Vic: Gillard urges soldiers to share stories with the nation

AAP General News (Australia)
04-25-2008
Vic: Gillard urges soldiers to share stories with the nation

MELBOURNE, April 25 AAP - Australian servicemen should be encouraged to talk of their
combat experiences so the nation can have a realistic view of war, Deputy Prime Minister
Julia Gillard says.

Ms Gillard, who attended the Anzac Day service in Melbourne, said her British grandfather
lied about his age to fight in World War I.

He survived the war but his experiences of the war remain unknown.

"My mother's got some photographs and some of the records, but it wasn't something
he tended to talk about so she doesn't have the complete history," Ms Gillard told ABC
Radio.

She said the full history of her grandfather's service would be lost, but soldiers
serving today should share their experiences with others.

"I think maybe for a long period of time it was a bit taboo for men to come back from
war and to talk about how bad it was and some of the things they saw, and to suggest that
that had affected them in an ongoing way," Ms Gillard said.

"I think that culture of men repressing their emotions and pretending it didn't hurt
was predominant, but in the last few years I think we've seen a lot of breaking down of
that."

Ms Gillard said Australians needed to understand what war was like, and servicemen
of today should provide that insight.

"I think that they now understand that it's not only the right thing for them to come
back and tell their stories personally because people need to talk, but it's actually
the right thing for the nation," Ms Gillard said.

"We should understand what war is like, what combat is like, what it's like for someone
who's deployed overseas.

"We shouldn't have a romantic vision of that, we should have a real vision."

AAP kl/ce/it/bwl

KEYWORD: ANZAC GILLARD

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