Nurse pushes for recognition of war service

A retired Port Kennedy nurse who helped to save thousands of civilian lives during the Vietnam War is frustrated over a long-standing battle with the Federal Government for formal recognition of her service.

Former surgical nurse Di Clark said she spent six months caring for injured Vietnamese at a hospital in Bien Hoa, north east of Saigon, in 1970 - one of more than 450 Australian medical personnel to answer a Government call for volunteers to travel to the war zone during the 1960s and early 70s.

Just 24 years old at the time and trained in general and surgical nursing and midwifery, Mrs Clark said she knew right away she wanted to do something to help and joined a South Australian team led by top surgeon Mervyn Smith.

She said the teams of volunteers, who came from across Australia including WA, took everything in their stride - but years later the horror of children's bodies charred from napalm, bodies torn apart by grenade and rocket attacks, skin grafts, amputations, a visit to a leprosy colony, and death, had come back to haunt her.

"The first year I was back in Australia is all very hazy - I'd always had this sense of belonging but suddenly I was scared to go out," Mrs Clark said.

"I was on my own, no one wanted to know - I know suicide came to mind during that time.

"We're not after money, just recognition."

Warnbro MLA Paul Papalia said it was fundamentally wrong that civilian medical personnel were not recognised as veterans and therefore did not receive the compensation afforded to military, logistics personnel and even entertainers who served in Vietnam.

He said the civilian surgical teams were exposed to the same threats and suffered the same after-effects as military personnel.

A spokeswoman for Department of Veterans Affairs said under long-standing policy, only civilians under the command and control of the Australian Defence Force met the requirement for coverage under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986. She said doctors and nurses who received incapacity payments through Comcare until the age of 65 could apply for the age pension.

Melbourne-based retired nurse and fellow surgical team volunteer Dr Dorothy Angell, who has been lobbying the Federal Government for almost 20 years for compensation, said she believed the Federal Government was waiting for remaining volunteers to die out.

Mrs Clark said she changed her name and moved from Adelaide to Darwin, then later to Perth, to escape the memories of what had happened in Vietnam.

Mr Papalia said he planned to lobby the Federal Government for change and encouraged WA volunteers to contact his office.