Mateship spans half a century

A PAIR of longtime friends who served together in the Royal Australian Air Force have been reunited after seven years of being apart.

Barry Dobbs, 70, of Kingaroy, travelled to Townsville for the weekend to see his good mate Joe Corica, 82, affectionately known as the “godfather” because of his Italian heritage.

The two celebrated 50 years of friendship this week and first met on June 25, 1968, when Barry joined the RAAF.

“I was a leading aircraftman, and was to report to Joe, a corporal,” Barry said.

“He was my boss and we struck up a pretty good mateship friendship that we’ve maintained for all these years, it’s a pretty good effort.

“It’s just terrific … our mateship is what makes service life all the better and we encourage ADF people to stick together.”

Barry said the two had been through major life events together, watching each other get married and seeing all of their adult children grow up.

“His friendship means the world to me,” he said.

Barry said the friendship gave him a sense of belonging after discharging.

He joined the RAAF at age 18 after hearing of the deaths of Australians at Long Tan, and wanted to tour Vietnam to “do his fair share”. He wasn’t deployed to Vietnam, but stayed on to serve for 20 years.

Barry said the reunion was “emotional” and he wasn’t sure when they would next meet.