History with Billy Barnes

Billy Barnes an ex-soldier and veteran of the Vietnam War came to speak to the Year 12 history class before they went on study leave. After learning about New Zealand’s involvement in the war through a protestor and political perspective, it was truly valuable to be provided with a military perspective on the war. He retraced his journey to South Vietnam, being dropped in by helicopter, prepared with a knapsack and the clothes on his back, his fellow comrades were there to serve for New Zealand alongside Australia and the US against North Vietnam. In a nutshell, his experiences on the field, were ones filled with all kinds of uncertainty, of the weather and of making it out alive. Our class was really grateful for the experiences he shared with us, ones that brought some tears to our eyes. Not only was his and other veterans experiences on the field important but off the field when they came home. Back in NZ, the war was very unpopular, this was demonstrated with the protest on the street. Under the cover of darkness, the soldiers arrived, they were told if anyone had asked them about their haircut it was better to tell them they were an inmate rather than a soldier. Barnes wasn’t treated like the war hero his father and grandfather were. They never got an official welcome home and weren’t apologised to for the treatment they received on arrival for 30 years. The biggest fight off the field was proving to the NZ govt, that the soldiers had been in areas where agent orange ( US defoliant used to kill trees and deprive the Viet Cong of food) was sprayed, a defoliant which had created miscarriage, and birth defects in their children and various kinds of cancer for the veterans. These veterans kept fighting with the fight they still had in them to go after what was right, proving the truth. A life and history lesson that stuck in my mind from his visit was this: to keep fighting for what is right, even if others tell you otherwise.