RWANDA STAYS WITH OUR VETS
Tess Ikonomou
TWENTY-FIVE years after deploying to Rwanda in a peace keeping mission, Townsville veterans can still remember the “smell of fear in the air” as the country struggled with the aftermath of the mass slaughter that left hundreds of thousands dead.
Brett Ryan, 47, and Terry Pope, 51, deployed to the bloodstained nation serving on Operation Tamar, Australia’s contribution to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda which consisted of about 700 defence force personnel, providing medical support and security.
Mr Ryan spent his 21st birthday in transit flying to the Rwandan capital Kigali in November 1994, as part of Alpha Company, of the 2nd/4th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, which eventually delinked in 1995.
Mr Ryan, a mortar man, was in a support section that provided security for the medics and remembers the fear in the eyes of the locals, who were trying to rebuild lives after the genocide.
“You would be going to a refugee camp and seeing children with their arms and legs cut off … they had lost faith in humanity, you could smell the fear in the air,” he said.
“The local kids would come and sit in front of us, they placed trust in the Australian soldiers.
“On one of medical patrols in the mountains, the people came out from their little villages and the look of happiness was on their faces as they were getting some kind of medical treatment. The medics did a fantastic job over there.”
Mr Ryan who returned to Australia three and a half months later was “shaped” by his experience which he credits for making him a better soldier for his next deployment to East Timor.
“It affected me in different ways, I tried to learn from the negatives after seeing how they forgave the people after the crimes they committed, but I got angrier,” he said.
“It made me angry seeing what people can do to each other, what they had done in such a short time frame … and how they had forgiven those people back into society.
“You can move on, but you can’t forgive everything.”
Mr Pope, who deployed as a rifleman in Bravo Company, 2RAR in 1995 said the mission was lifechanging.
“It gave me a lot of empathy and compassion for people, especially the people who can’t stand up for themselves,” he said.
“I have no tolerance for people that stand over and belittle others.”
Mr Pope said it was the camaraderie between his fellow soldiers which helped him get on with the job.
“The fact is that when you’re hurting and you look into his (another soldier’s) eyes they’re hurting too, you have nothing to whinge about … we basically soldiered on,” he said.
“All we did was put genocide on hold, the scale of the loss of life was incomprehensible … and a revolving door of atrocities going on.”
Mr Ryan and Mr Pope were both medically discharged from the army in 2007 with mental health and service related issues, both carrying a lot of anger.
“You bottle a lot of stuff up, and it took me a long time to seek help, I still see a psychologist but I choose life and my family, and there’s so much genuine love from the blokes you served with,” Mr Pope said.
On Saturday, a National Commemorative Service was held at the Australian Peacekeeping Memorial in Canberra marking the 25th anniversary of Op Tamar.
The Governor-general David Hurley (Retd) presented the Meritorious Unit Citation Warrant to each Service Chief, or their representatives, who accepted the award on behalf of the ADF personnel who deployed on the operation. From 1994 to 1996 it is estimated that more than 800,000 innocent civilians were killed in Rwanda by armed militias and trained military forces.
>>You can contact Open Arms – Veterans and Families Counselling which is free and confidential help available 24/7. Phone: 1800 011 046.