The Vietnam War, also known as the second Indochina War was a turning point for many Australians. It was the longest war that Australia had participated in. Barry Heard captures the sense of involvement of veterans in the war quite well in his autobiography; Well Done Those Men, published in 2005. Since the war had a massive impact on Australia 's history, there were many texts published which were representation of the war. A form of that is lyric poetry; Redgum also captured the sense of Vietnam War quiet well in his song I Was Only Nineteen, published in 1993. These two comparative text offer similar representations of veterans from Vietnam War in their constructions.
Many veterans had problems fitting in to their society after war, most …show more content…
In Well Done Those Men and I Was Only Nineteen; authors of both text talk about the guilt he faced after war when he came to terms with everything; and how hard it was for them to let go of it. Well Done Those Men represented the idea of guilt by discussing how Heard was unstable every night just thinking about how he could 've saved his comrade who was leaning against the tree, but because of his mistake he couldn 't, he thinks back to how his one mistake (which he made under pressure) of sending the helicopters out too late had resulted in the death of many innocent comrades. He keeps torturing himself with the thought of 'what if 's ' and it contributed to the already existing guilt. In I Was Only Nineteen; Redgum mentions "And i can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle" represents similar views where he can still hear his friend dying, and he can still remember their last moments. Redgum is talking about those memories in past tense, which represent that he is feeling guilty about it. I Was Only Nineteen and Well Done Those Men both represent similar ideas about how hard it is for veterans to let go of their guilt and to forgive themselves. They showcase how hard it must 've been for veterans to experience the death of a best friend;
Many veterans had problems fitting in to their society after war, most …show more content…
In Well Done Those Men and I Was Only Nineteen; authors of both text talk about the guilt he faced after war when he came to terms with everything; and how hard it was for them to let go of it. Well Done Those Men represented the idea of guilt by discussing how Heard was unstable every night just thinking about how he could 've saved his comrade who was leaning against the tree, but because of his mistake he couldn 't, he thinks back to how his one mistake (which he made under pressure) of sending the helicopters out too late had resulted in the death of many innocent comrades. He keeps torturing himself with the thought of 'what if 's ' and it contributed to the already existing guilt. In I Was Only Nineteen; Redgum mentions "And i can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle" represents similar views where he can still hear his friend dying, and he can still remember their last moments. Redgum is talking about those memories in past tense, which represent that he is feeling guilty about it. I Was Only Nineteen and Well Done Those Men both represent similar ideas about how hard it is for veterans to let go of their guilt and to forgive themselves. They showcase how hard it must 've been for veterans to experience the death of a best friend;