For the past 10 years, Mr Spence has travelled to Sydney every April 25 to reunite with friends he served with in Vietnam as a 20-year-old national service volunteer.

Mr Spence, a Bombardier with the 1st Field Regiment Royal Australian Artillery in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970, had never marched on Anzac Day until after the 1987 Welcome Home parade for Vietnam Veterans.

“I didn’t want anything to do with it, probably because of the way we were treated when we came home, due to the fact that the war was so unpopular and divided opinion,” he said.

But the Welcome Home march not only gave him a sense of acceptance, but reunited him with friends whom he had not seen for nearly 20 years.

“I was just extremely happy to catch up with guys I hadn’t seen since we dispersed ,” he said. “I was glad we got recognition.”

Mr Spence counts friendship as one of the few good things that come from war.

“Personally, I don’t see war as the solution,” he said.

For the full story see Southern Highland News, Friday, April 25