Daryl Bristowe was conscripted into compulsory national service. As a national serviceman, he served for 3 months in Vietnam in 1971.
Daryl reflects humorously on his mother's anti-war activism, which caused him some embarrassment at the time, but didn’t stop her supporting him while he was serving overseas.
After military training at Puckapunyal, Singleton and Cunungra, Daryl became a mortarman with 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR).
After returning home on HMAS Sydney, Daryl recalls his disappointment with the unwelcoming attitude of the RSL to Vietnam veterans. He re-entered the army in 1989 as a reservist.
