Howard Dillon's story

Howard Frederick Dillon was born on 28 August 1939 in Campsie, New South Wales.

Inspired by his father's service as a chaplain with the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in New Guinea in 1942, Howard joined the Australian Army as a chaplain.

Howard married Aileen not long after they met, before he was deployed to South Vietnam. His deployment to Vietnam would change him forever.

In 1969, eager and naive, Howard served with 1 Australian Field Hospital[Australian War Memorial] at Vung Tau, providing pastoral care to the soldiers. He found the realities of war confronting and recalled that, at times, he was unsure that he was even making an impact.

Howard was reminded that when the nursing staff were saving someone's life, his role was integral. He was a soldier's 'normal'. A representative of family. Someone who would, during surgery, hold a hand, stroke a forehead and pray for them.

Back home, Howard continued his career in the Army. He helped with character training courses that were part of basic army training in Puckapunyal, Victoria, and in Sydney, New South Wales. Howard helped reshape the course and highlighted the key role of chaplaincy in the Australian armed forces, while sharing Christian guidance with thousands of service personnel.

In 1973, Howard transferred to the Army Reserve and was appointed rector of St Jude's in Bowral, New South Wales. His service in Vietnam and the suffering he witnessed had a lasting impact. He moved to Melbourne, where he led the Mission to St James and St John, caring for underprivileged people in the community. He believed that the highest calling in his ministry was to show compassion and empathy with the distressed and suffering.

Howard continued his work in the Army Reserve and was elected as a member of the General Synod's Defence Force Board, where he gave advice to the then Chaplain-General and Bishop of the Armed Forces.

Returning to Sydney, Howard became Chief Executive of Anglicare and continued his work to help underprivileged people.

Howad died in 2009, survived by his wife Aileen and their children.

See also

Vietnam War 1962 to 1975

Further reading

Howard Dillon (Australian Army), Army Chaplain

Transcript

Over 70 men served as chaplains in the Australian Army during the Vietnam War. Howard Dillon arrived in 1969, eager and naive.

"Even chaplains didn't tell you what you were likely to confront, you just went there. So, it was quite a shock to be at the hospital and find that you were supposed to give the last rites to dead soldiers.

When you're young and invincible, you take on the world.

The medical team, even though they were working on the soldier, there was no one to actually be there for the person. So I found myself as being the kind of anchor person that was there reassuring the soldier. Sometimes I felt that you were kind of powerless.

I mean nurses are giving injections and people are taking pulses. And I wondered whether I was doing any good. And I talked to the CO about it and I said, 'Sometimes I feel we're just in the way.'

He rebuked me pretty strongly and said 'No, you're the one normal thing here. Everything else is abnormal. We're all flat out saving the digger's life, but you represent mother, father, brother "" the normal world. You do for him what a family would do.'

So you'd find yourself stroking his forehead, holding his hand, praying. Talking quietly in his ear, that's if he could hear. Sometimes with the mine explosions they were deaf. Sometimes they had things on their mind so it becomes a kind of confessional.

The young men that I trained went off and did all that was asked of them and then came back to be treated with disdain. I think a mortal blow to the whole of our generation, and I think that the kind of social problems that Vietnam vets now display I put largely at the door of those community leaders who, oh really, piddled on us from a great height."


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Cite this page

DVA (Department of Veterans' Affairs) ( ), Howard Dillon's story, DVA Anzac Portal, accessed 26 November 2024, https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/stories/oral-histories/howard-dillons-story
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