Lives changed- Upwey-Belgrave RSL President David Eaton made life-long friendships through his time in the armed forces. 56243

By Russell Bennett
LAST Thursday, Upwey-Belgrave RSL President David Eaton remembered the moment his life changed forever.
Mr Eaton, who was about to embark on a promising advertising career, was called up for national service in 1965.
He found himself in the thick of battle in Vietnam a year later, aged just 21.
“The best way of describing conscription is to think of it as a lottery,” Mr Eaton said.
“There was no way of knowing if you were going to be called up but there was a chance.”
Mr Eaton won a lottery no-one would want to win and found himself in the 1st Field Regiment of the Royal Australian Artillery.
“We were in the first major Australian taskforce in Vietnam,” he said.
“Right there at the battle of Long Tan.”
Mr Eaton saw many of his comrades suffer both physical and mental scars from battles like Long Tan, but he came home largely unscathed.
“I don’t know why I wasn’t affected,” he said.
“Many of us were.
“I guess I was just exceptionally lucky.”
Mr Eaton returned to Vietnam in 2005. “I went into some of the tunnels that the boys navigated,” he said.
“That was harder mentally for me than the war itself. It was the worst experience of my life.”
“It was pitch black, my shoulders were brushing along the tunnel walls, and I couldn’t help but think about what our boys went through.”
Mr Eaton made life-long friendships through his time in the service but also witnessed the Vietnam conflict’s devastation on former soldiers years after they returned.
“The suicide rate among Vietnam veterans is exceptionally high,” Mr Eaton said.
He said the Vietnam conflict, like Korea before it, was the war the Australian people wanted no part of.
Mr Eaton said the soldiers were made the face of that unpopularity by the public, and paid for it dearly.
“We were called some pretty awful things,” he said. “Like ‘baby killers’.”
Remembrance Day, 11 November, each year provides Mr Eaton and other former servicemen and women the chance to pay tribute to their fallen mates.
It also lets them receive the respect and admiration they weren’t often afforded when they first returned home.
“It’s great to see how Remembrance Day has grown over the years,” Mr Eaton said.
“People really embrace the day and everything it represents.”
The Upwey-Belgrave RSL has 242 active members, including 80 service members from World War II, Korea, Vietnam and East Timor.
“We really encourage new members to join up,” Mr Eaton said.
“It’s a great, friendly environment with darts, fishing, and golf clubs for people to join.”
Upwey-Belgrave RSL hosted a Remembrance Day service on Thursday at the cenotaph on Wattle Avenue in Belgrave.