After discharge from the Army I tried three different jobs. One of which was a security company called ‘MSS’. It hired Vietnam veterans because of their knowledge of weapons, discipline and their obedience to tidy uniforms etc. After several months of mundane security patrols, I was accepted into the Commonwealth Police Force. After graduation from the academy I was transferred to NSW HQ, in Brisbane Street Sydney. One of my duties was to be in uniform on the front line of the anti-war demonstrations that were slowly escalating into full blown anarchy on the streets of Sydney. Daily duties were to attend the ant-war and moratorium demonstrations in and around Sydney. I battled student abuse for 8-12 hours a day. When off duty I tried to act as if nothing had happened. If there was any other series of events in this nation that resulted in alienation of veterans, it was the way national and international media fuelled public opinion through the demonstrators. I was receiving the message first-hand. A "draft dodger" for me was in the same category as a VC. I would never deny it; I hated the demonstrators, especially students and relished the opportunity to show them. “ Burn their draft cards will they. Well we'll see about that. When I'm finished with them, army life will seem like a walk in the park.” I always wondered what would happen if somebody I knew well confronted me at a demonstration. Would I ignore that person and let one of the other officer’s deal with them? No, I would give the command for them to move on. If they refused, they would be arrested and detained. My mindset at the time was simple: a demonstrator was against me and considered the enemy. If they wanted to play the game and protest, that was their choice and I was up for the challenge. Standing outside the Attorney General's office in Castlereagh Street on 8th May 1970, I was a member of the police contingent facing an estimated 30,000 demonstrators gathered for the first national Moratorium. The front line was police who were Vietnam veterans. We stood with our arms linked, veteran to veteran. We formed a human cordon as we waited on the footpath for the demonstrators to approach. We could hear the din of the march in the distance increasing in loudness as it approached. Loud hailers filled the air with calls to get out of Vietnam. I knew that wearing my Vietnam ribbons would incite the demonstrators. I looked down at my two ribbons and said to those around me, "Bring it on!" "Steady men," the Sergeant calmly said, "hold the line no matter what. It's going to get ugly. I feel it in my gut." As he spoke, we all tightened our elbows together firming the bond between us, NSW State Police and Commonwealth Police together. The Sergeant went on, "We are here to stop any intrusion into the building behind us. Keep your cool. If they break the line arrest them and take them to the charging station behind. Hand them over, give your details and return to the line." All reports suggested a peaceful demonstration. I turned to the officer next to me, "What unit mate?" "One Battalion 65/66. What about you?" "21 Engineer Support Troop, 67/68." "Listen mate, if they get too close, grab them by the scruff of the neck, pull their heads through so the guys behind can give them a biff for their trouble. Works every time. Happens quicker than you can blink." "Great idea," I replied. The thought of a bit of biff agreed with me. Suddenly the demonstrators were in sight. Masses of them, flags waiving, loud hailers blaring. I shuddered. Half of Sydney must be out there in this one. I braced myself along with the others. I remembered the briefing we had been given about the historical 'Battle for Sydney' on 11 April. Six hundred Sydney University students did their familiar march to the city. On that occasion they broke into a full-scale charge and occupied the Federal Attorney General's office before police had arrived. After most had been dragged out there were 110 arrests. I thought, there is a bloody big difference between 600 and 30,000. The noise of the demonstrators was deafening. A mass of human flesh confronted the police line. I adopted a steel look and stared straight ahead, straight through the demonstrators. The abuse we coped made our blood boil almost to breaking point. All I saw was a bunch of drongos aiming all their fury at me. This was personal and I wasn't going to tolerate it. The first demonstrator to get in my face got the short shrift. I grabbed his jumper, pulled his head through, and the guy behind him gave a greeting he’d never forget. I yanked him back through the front line and pushed him back into the crowd quicker than you could blink. "Police brutality!" yelped the demonstrator. "Did you see that, police brutality. Get a camera on these coppers somebody." The police line stood their ground as if nothing had happened. Demonstrators pulled cameras from everywhere. "Smile for the camera boys," the Station Sergeant quipped. "Make sure they see a friendly caring face now!" I smiled, and the more the demonstrators taunted me, the more I smiled all the time trying to control my rage meter. During the eight hours that I spent on the line I was pushed, spat on, urinated on, flower bombed, water bombed and generally verbally abused. I had language hurled at me that even curled my hardened ears. I was threatened with every form of corporal punishment in the book by the protesters. This was the pattern on a daily basis as students and sympathisers targeted different Federal Government buildings and instrumentalities such as Qantas, ASIO, Kirribilli House, Parliamentary Offices, Reserve Bank and the like. Small group incursions designed to disrupt the business of the day. Most demonstrators aimed at taking over a building with a sit-in. To me it wasn't just a demo - this was all out war, and I was going to survive no matter what. What I didn’t know was the unseen wounds that lurked within my emotions that would soon erupt. go to top The above photographs were sourced from the following internet urls: (Photographs in order from the top) 1. https://www.spectator.com.au/2014/05/a-noble-cause/ 2. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-05/vietnam-war-protesters/7691002?nw=0 3. http://www.austech.info/showthread.php/91671-Through-the-years-1964-1978 (Accessed 9 May 2020 at 10:30am EST Australia time)