SAVE OUR ABANDONED SOLDIERS
Veteran commando’s plea to govt
A DECORATED army commando with 30 years’ frontline experience has called for an overhaul of the welfare system to stop soldiers being abandoned in civilian life.
Paul McMahon, a veteran of multiple tours of Afghanistan, called for better communication between government departments so veterans weren’t forced to repeatedly recount horror war experiences to access medical assistance.
SINCE World WarII, thousands of defence force members have been left wanting recognition for peacetime service to the nation, former army corporal Chris Young says.
While service like his may not have opened him up to the horrors of war faced by others, Mr Young is calling for recognition for the efforts of Rifle Company Butterworth, with which he served in 1985 during a counter-terrorism operation against a “communist” insurgency in Malaysia.
Mr Young said there was an argument that the service was in a “warlike” setting.
“There’s thousands of us; every soldier, sailor or airman that served as a part of Rifle Company Butterworth in the second Malayan emergency in between 1970 and 1989,” he said.
But the fight for recognition from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs stretched to other units and conflicts across Australia’s peacekeeping history overseas, Mr Young said.
Now thanks to a federal government program, Mr Young has received a certificate of appreciation from Corio MP Richard Marles.
“It means a lot but there’s more than just me that served overseas, there’s many thousands of us,” Mr Young said.
Certificates of appreciation are available under the federal government’s Saluting Their Service program.
The program offering a certificate of service recognises overseas acts in the ADF from WWII on, and on the home front during WWII. Application forms are on the DVA website and should be submitted to your local federal MP. Visit dva.gov.au/sites/default/files/dvaforms/d0755.pdf