BERMAGUI resident Roy Davies almost paid the ultimate price fighting for his country in Vietnam at the tender age of 19.
Now he has been awarded with an Order of Australia Medal for his services to the local sub-branch of the Returned and Services League.
Mr Davies has been a trustee of the sub-branch since 2004 and treasurer since 2009, but he was singled out for the OAM for the work that he voluntarily undertook on the reconstruction of the Bermagui War Memorial, which due to severe salt corrosion, had to be demolished and reconstructed.
According to the official recognition information, as well as drafting the plans for approval and researching materials to be used in the construction, Mr Davies secured various sponsors and maintained complete oversight of the project completed last year.
Mr Davies said he was humbled by the award and it was a great honour.
"I was certainly surprised and honoured that I have received such a prestigious award from my colleagues in the RSL," he said.
"I would like to say thank-you to those who nominated me for the award."
Mr Davies entered the Australian Army at 18 and was posted to B Sqn Cav., which was a unit equipped with armoured personnel carriers.
He went to Vietnam at 19 years of age in August 1969.
"Unfortunately, in June 1970, I with two others was blown up by a mine," Mr Davies said.
"One friend and colleague was killed and another lost his leg.
"I received serious internal, lung, liver and neck, back injuries."
In 1971 following his rehabilitation, he went into psychiatric, general, intensive care nursing and eventually health administration, as a director of nursing, community heath and aged care services.
He studied and gained a Bachelor of Health Administration degree at the University of NSW.
He joked that despite being retired, he was still always busy what with his RSL duties and being a board member of the Bermagui Country Club.
"I am currently retired but like most retirees, wonder how I had time to go to work," he said.
Rebuilding the Bermagui War Memorial turned out to be a lengthy, involved process.
"I think it is important to note that, prior to rebuilding the War Memorial, as a trustee, I and another trustee were requested to act as administrators for a deceased estate," he said.
"This took nearly two years to finalise with the CWA and Bermagui Sub-Branch of the RSL being bequeathed a sum of money."
Following an inspection, it was agreed that the previous memorial had been seriously erode by the coastal elements and specifically salt erosion.
Mr Davies realised the memorial was unsafe and needed to be replaced.
"I submitted a proposal to the RSL sub-branch members that as custodians of the memorial, it was our responsibility to replace the memorial," he said.
"Not only replace it but also, with a memorial that would survive the coastal elements and last for many generations."
It was put to the members that money from the deceased estate and a small grant from Department of Veterans Affairs could be contributed to the new memorial and this eventually was approved.
The RSL sub-branch decided to pay the cost of building a new memorial without community contribution, he said.
"My role was as the initial protagonist to replace the memorial," Mr Davies said.
"I presented numerous designs to the memorial committee to choose from and the current design was accepted by the membership.
"The greatest problem over the next 18 months was the red tape I had to go through to replace a memorial on the same 'foot print' as before."
Mr Davies said hundreds of hours went into providing the Bermagui and surrounding community with a war memorial that was "dedicated to those who served and gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country."
And this new OAM is still concerned about issues in the veteran community.
"We are fortunate in our Bermagui RSL Sub-Branch that we have two qualified welfare officers," Mr Davies said.
"An officer is available every Monday morning at the RSL rooms at the Bermagui Country Club between 10am and 12noon.
"Our RSL Sub-Branch would certainly like those veterans that need assistance in any way to visit our welfare officers and please remember that things have changed over time."
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff
Twitter