Barry Heard's veteran story

Barry Clifford Heard was born in Melbourne, Victoria, on 9 January 1945.

Brought up in rural Victoria, Barry was 20 when he received a letter that he had been conscripted for national service. He got a deferment and entered the third draft in 1966.

Barry trained at Puckapunyal, Victoria, and Singleton, New South Wales, before going to the Jungle Warfare Training Centre at Canungra, Queensland. Then he was posted to 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (7RAR).

Barry recalls not having any idea what he was getting himself into. His father spoke of communists, which he thought was a 'breed of sheep'. The reality really didn't sink in until he completed training. In 1967, Barry was deployed to South Vietnam as a radio operator.

After 7 months serving in the Vietnam War, Barry returned a different person. Like many veterans, his post-war life was difficult. He began to drink heavily and, as time went on, found it hard to navigate social situations.

Later, Barry moved to Melbourne to attend university and felt the full brunt of society's growing dislike for the Vietnam War. After confronting some protestors, he received a lot of abuse, which led to him feeling more isolated.

It took about 30 years before Barry's wartime experiences became unmanageable. He suffered a debilitating breakdown and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Barry's path back to health was long and painful for him and his family. He sought help at the psychiatric ward in Melbourne, which enabled him to write his first book, Well Done, Those Men.

In 2009, Barry was appointed Australian Ambassador for Libraries Victoria. He has been involved with fundraising for Hope Foundation, Fred Hollows Foundation, Oak Tree, Books for Bhutan and 2 orphanages in Vietnam.

Barry Heard (Australian Army), Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Transcript

In 1967, Barry Heard served proudly and well as a national serviceman in Vietnam. But what he experienced as an infantryman made him want to forget the war.

"I stay away from everything. Apparently a couple of guys got in touch with my parents and wanted to get in touch with me..."

In 1987 the Welcome Home Parade took pace in Sydney. Barry refused to attend.

"I watched it on television and I could not believe what I saw. I was just stunned that people... Welcome Home? You know, holding up placards and that's when I said to my wife I want to catch up with my mates. I need to see them; I haven't seen them for so long."

He attended his first battalion reunion. It produced mixed feelings.

"It was good and it was bad. It was good to see all the guys again, I'm sure we're all gay; all we want to do is hold one another and cry and hug. It was just beautiful. To see all those guys. But what I ended up with was a book full of addresses and all that sort of thing and then the next three or four years were just bloody hell.

Because things did go downhill rapidly. There were suicides, there were... It was too much I think. Everything was too much."

Barry was diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder. He suffered a complete breakdown and his world crashed.

"Came out of the hospital; not sure when, probably a few weeks; wetting myself and soiling myself and not game to leave the bedroom for a start and then I wasn't game to leave the house, for a long time. About six months I wasn't game to go outside. I was just so frightened of everything. My poor wife. She has to look after me, this dribbling, bloody, fragile, old man. Yeah."

Barry wrote a successful book about his life and it produced a surprising bonus.

"It's brought us together my mates and I, all of us, in a way that's surreal, and that is we've done a lot of fund raising. We've learnt that to give is the best thing to heal our soul and our spirit. We had no idea."

Barry's path back to health was long and painful for him and his family.

"I believe from that whole experience, the things I treasure in my life are so simple: I don't want anything other than a wife "" I've got a beautiful wife, I've got beautiful children; beautiful grandchildren, and that's it."


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Cite this page

DVA (Department of Veterans' Affairs) ( ), Barry Heard's veteran story, DVA Anzac Portal, accessed 6 November 2024, https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/stories/oral-histories/barry-heards-story
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