THE Mount Isa RSL sub-branch is only aware of one Vietnam veteran, who died during the war, buried in the local cemetery.
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Diamond driller Timo Pesonen was nearly 21 when he was killed by a mine in Vietnam. His body was brought back to Mount Isa to be buried, and his mother was flown from Finland for the service, according to the RSL sub-branch.
Last week travelling veteran John Toonen, from Hervey Bay, had been in Mount Isa in time for Vietnam Veterans Day. He learned that one of his friends from the war, Mr Pesonen, was buried in the cemetery.
“That was quite a coincidence and a surprise. A nice surprise to commemorate his service,” Mr Toonen said.
They knew each other while serving in Vietnam in A Company’s 3rd Platoon (8RAR), in the ambush battalion. They would socialise during their rest and recuperation.
“He was a bit of a happy go lucky and a bit of a larrakin,” Mr Toonen said.
“We were on guard all the time so we couldn’t muck around too much.
“We shared our jokes on the boozer but on the field it was full on and no mucking around.”
They did not talk much about their personal lives they had waiting for them in Australia.
“You miss your family so you do not really want to be reminded of you missing them, so you would talk about other things,” Mr Toonen said.
Mr Toonen did not want to fight in Vietnam. He joined the Australian Army at 17 rather than being conscripted, but had applied for the engineering corp. The army was short on infantry. He first served in Malaysia in the 8RAR, then tried to transfer into engineering. “But they said ‘no, we spent too much money on you. you’re staying, and you’re going to Vietnam,’” Mr Toonen said.
“Even though I was 19 and three months, I had no choice.
“Nobody likes to kill anybody unless you’re defending your own personal life. It was a cause of the politicians and the country which needed protection. So you do your bit as a private in the army.”
During the local Vietnam Veterans Day service Mount Isa RSL sub-branch president Bill Hilton said that Mr Pesonen was killed by a mine in the Phuoc Tuy Province.
Mr Pesonen died two days before he turned 21, on February 20, 1970.
Mr Pesonen had been born in Finland but became an Australian citizen when he was nine, along with his parents and his sister.
“He loved his new life in Mount Isa, he volunteered in March, 1969, and was posted to the ambush battalion,” Mr Hilton said.
“He stood on a mine over in Vietnam in 1970 and he was brought home. They had a service here in Mount Isa.
“He was a young Finnish fella and they flew his mother over for the service.”
