Vet endures daily battle to survive
A VIETNAM veteran living in deplorable conditions after his house caught fire seven years ago, has been unable to secure financial support from veteran services.
Len Payne, of Giru, is living in a caravan on his land after he lost everything in a house fire in 2011.
The veteran couldn’t afford insurance and can’t afford to demolish his house on advice given by the Burdekin Shire Council, because of a hefty $ 183,000 price tag.
The 72- year- old still uses the burnt- out toilet in the house, doesn’t have a kitchen and showers and washes his clothes at a friend’s house nearby.
Mr Payne answered the call to serve as a national serviceman and toured Vietnam in 1967 and ’ 68.
“I hate asking for help, never have … I’m just a little drop in the ocean, I don’t matter to anybody,” he said.
“Not much else I can say, but I wish I could have saved my little dog.
“I went in there with the police yelling at me not to … I thought ‘ where would he be?’… and he was laying in his favourite spot waiting for me, but I couldn’t get him back.”
Mr Payne said he had received help from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs for healthcare, and is in possession of a gold card.
Mr Payne approached Quinns Post, a welfare service provided by the Townsville RSL, for assistance but said he was not helped by them.
He said he also wasn’t given any help by The Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia.
Jurgen Jenke lives near Mr Payne and the two have been friends for 10 years.
“I’m a person who thinks that if someone has fought for the country, they should get help,” he said.
“When you see that nobody is helping, it makes me very angry.”
Federal MP Cathy O’Toole said there “were veterans falling through the cracks”.
“It’s absolutely outrageous a veteran would find them self in that circumstance,” she said.
“Not receiving the services he requires, what has happened is the system that has failed him.”
Townsville RSL president Bill Whitburn said he was unable to comment on the matter as he was not in charge of the branch when Mr Payne required assistance.
Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia Townsville Branch president Peter Hindle said he wasn’t aware of the case.
“I find it rather disgraceful that he’s not getting any help,” he said.
The DVA said it could not comment on individual cases because of privacy considerations.
“DVA recommends that Mr Payne contact the department in order to review his entitlements,” it said.
“DVA provides a range of programs of care, compensation and income support for the veterans and their families, including those who served in Vietnam.”