SJC honours Vietnam Veteran Old Boys

St Joseph’s College has unveiled an honour board paying tribute to Old Boys who served in South Vietnam 1962 – 1973.

The Old Boy servicemen and their families, as well as the families of deceased Old Boy servicemen, visited the College on Thursday 3 May for the official dedication of the honour board by General Peter Cosgrove AC, MC.

It was an opportunity for the College community to publicly honour and thank the 40 Old Boys who selflessly served their country in Vietnam.

Headmaster of St Joseph’s College, Mr Ross Tarlinton, said the dedication of the honour board was an extraordinarily important occasion, allowing the sacrifices of the SJC men, and all men and women, who served in Vietnam to be appropriately recognised.  

“These men have made extraordinary sacrifices… each in their own way. For many, it was a time when the support from other Australians was possibly less than what it should have been… I think it’s only in history, and in time now that there’s been an awakening to the recognition of these extraordinary men.”

“The Old Boys that are here today, these veterans, and those who have passed on… are extraordinary witness of service. A foundation principle of this College, one that goes back hundreds of years in our own Marist tradition, is that service and citizenship is absolutely central to the values we hold.”

General Cosgrove said he was honoured to take part in the ceremony and thanked the College for acknowledging the service of its Old Boys.

“I’ve been asked recently to reflect on what seems to be a resurgence in the public regard for Anzacs and things of remembrance… I did reflect back on the way that not always have the Australian people uniformly welcomed and embraced our returning service folk,” he said.

“Here at St Joseph’s you acknowledge your school is built upon a principle, an ethos of service before self. And the nation has come to understand that these men and women who’d gone off to Vietnam, and to the wars thereafter, have absolutely embraced the notion of service before self.”

General Cosgrove said he believed the unique Joeys culture of mateship, service and cohesion was invaluable to the Old Boys serving in Vietnam. “I’ve always thought people cannot overstate the importance of a great school on forming a young man for what he will do later… If you see these (veterans) and ask them to what degree their schooling was a factor in their early trial under fire, and later during their lives, I’m sure their answer would be an emphatic one of highly important.”

The significance of the Old Boys’ service was clearly evident when the entire student body gave the men a standing ovation during the ceremony. The students then reminded the veterans they would always be a special part of the Joeys community by singing ‘Walk On’ as they left the stage.

General Cosgrove said the dedication was a fitting tribute for the College’s Old Boys. “I thank St Joseph’s College, profoundly as a fellow veteran, for honouring your men. In honouring your Vietnam Veterans you honour the ethos of your school.”

Following the ceremony of dedication the Old Boys and their families joined special guests and staff for a morning tea.

Old Boys who served in South Vietnam 1962 – 1973

 

Surname	First Name and Initial	College Year Group
Babbage	David W.	1961
Barbato	Ian T.	1965
Barry	Richard J.	1964
Bates	Ivan B.	1947
Blomley	John	1944
Bohane	Timothy D.	1960
Bookallil	Michael J.	1951
Bunyan	Philip E.	1962
Byrnes	John K.	1956
Casey	Peter J.	1965
Collins	John E.	1947
Conroy	Patrick M.	1963
Crowe	Francis X.	1945
Desmond	Peter J.	1958
Dore	Richard W.	1949
Dwyer	Paul A.	1969
Egan	Phillip J.	1963
Fazio	Victor W.	1956
Fren	Andrew W.	1962
Henry	Michael J.	1954
Hunt	Ronald A.	1962
Jarman	Kenneth A.	1962
Kelaher	Anthony E.	1962
Koppman	Michael P.	1960
Larnach-Jones	Antony W.	1955
Macinnis	Iain G.	1958
Mannell	Harold T.	1962
McDermott	Robert A.	1960
McNamara	Thomas J.	1955
Mecham	Michael J.	1955
Navin	Barry J.	1961
O'Dwyer	Roger M.	1965
O'Sullivan	Anthony W.	1963
Playford	Philip I.	1952
Prentice	Richard A.	1960
Purcell	Peter F.	1963
Roach	Robert E.	1953
Smith	Robert J.	1950
Terry	Kevin B.	1961
Zhukov	Vladislav V.	1958