Honoured vet reflects on scars of war

The blue walls of the small suburban lounge room have been artistically daubed with yellow to complement the large framed West Coast Eagles 2006 premiership team photo.

Remaining walls and furniture are crowded with photos of Graham Taylor, his late wife Hazel and their two boys and four grandchildren and mementos of war service, children’s sporting achievements and various honours.

Photos of Elvis and Princess Diana hang above a television airing an interview with Ernie Dingo.

It’s a familiar face to Mr Taylor, 63, who has crossed paths with the indigenous entertainer “a few times over the years”.

“He’s from the same country, he’s Wajarri Yamaji but I’m Budimaya-Amangu Yamaji. He knows of my family, he knows the area I come from and we all know that he’s Wajarri,” he said.

Born in Three Springs, the second eldest of eight children, the Aboriginal elder remembers a happy childhood, some of which was lived in a tiny four-room house with his seven brothers and sisters on the farm where his father worked.

He attended Coorow Primary School and did two years at Carnamah High School before going to the Pallotine Mission School at Tardun in 1969, at the age of 16.

Seeking an escape from the expectations of the day, Mr Taylor, then 17, and cousin, Gary Morrison Taylor, left the Mid West for a grand adventure in the army.

“We didn’t want to be a shearer or farm worker; we wanted to see the other side of Australia, so we signed up. I did recruitment at Kapooka (NSW) and infantry in Sydney, and then joined the 4th Battalion in Townsville,” he said.

Four days after his 19th birthday, in May 1971, Graham Taylor set sail for Nui Dat, Vietnam, where he saw out the last seven months of Australia troops’ involvement in the Vietnam War.

The rigours of war drew Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal men together as brothers and “friends for life”, with whom Mr Taylor said he still had contact today.

“We were excited for the big trip to get there,” he said.

However, it didn’t take long for the harsh reality of war to dampen young soldiers’ enthusiasm.

“We were scared when they were firing at us, but we fought back and luckily no one in our platoon got killed.

“I was a forward scout for a few months. That’s where you walk in front and you’re the first person the enemy sees.

“Well, I did all right ’cos I’m still here.”

He recalls one particular event, which left emotional scars.

“We got caught in a battle with the enemy and they started mortaring us,” he said.

“We couldn’t have been too far away from them because we could hear the mortars leaving their tubes.

“We could hear the pop and we had to lay down and wait. It seemed like forever but it must have been three or four seconds, and they’d land.

“Luckily they just landed around us.

“A lot of the men in our platoon did get wounded and I had to do my job and patch a lot of them up.

“Out of the 24 men in our platoon, 16 got wounded. Before another platoon came to help us out I think I’d had to patch up about 10, so I was quite busy that day.

“It did affect me, and a lot of the men in our platoon. I denied a lot of it, I thought, I’m OK, but as the years went by … now I’m 63 and on the Veterans Affairs’ pension.

“I’ve been to Vietnam … trying to combat the issues of it and to live a normal life. I’ve achieved that in a very good way, I think, because I’ve got these awards,” he said, pointing to a collection of trophies and certificates for indigenous leadership in the community.

The highest honour is the heavy blue plate presented to him 10 days ago at the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee awards in Adelaide.

It honours him as Australia’s male elder of the year for his continuous push for the recognition and inclusion of Aboriginal people who have fought in the armed forces, as well as the mentorship he provided to indigenous youth.

With six years of service in the army and a decade working for Main Roads in Geraldton, Mr Taylor has been heavily involved with Geraldton Aboriginal Men’s Association, the Returned and Services League, Bundiyarra Aboriginal Community Corporation and is an active volunteer at the Geraldton Streetwork Aboriginal Corporation.

“A lot of people say that I’m a humble person and that I don’t let things go to my head, but when I won that award, I did fly over the clouds … but I was in the aeroplane,” he said with a grin.