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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Australian Vietnam vet Barry Heard draws on his own experiences as a young conscript, along with those of his comrades, to look back at life before, during, and after the Vietnam War. The result is a sympathetic vision of a group of young men who were sent off to war completely unprepared for the emotional and psychological impact it would have on them. It is also a vivid and searingly honest portrayal of the author's post-war, slow-motion breakdown, and how he dealt with it. Well Done, Those Men attempts to make sense of what Vietnam did to the soldiers who fought there. It deals with the comic absurdity of their military training and the horror of the war they fought, and is unforgettably moving in recounting what happened to Barry and his comrades when they returned home. As we now know, most Vietnam vets had to deal with a community that shunned them, and with their own depression, trauma, and guilt. Barry Heard's sensitive account of his long journey home from Vietnam is a tribute to his mates, and an inspiring story of a life reclaimed.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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An abridged version of Well Done Those Men, read by the author, was broadcast on ABC Radio National program First Person for ten sessions (two weeks) from Monday 24th April 2006.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Large print.
Works about this Work
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Untitled
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 21-22 April 2012; (p. 22)
— Review of Well Done, Those Men : Memoirs of a Vietnam Veteran 2005 single work autobiography -
[Review Essay] Well Done, Those Men : Memoirs of a Vietnam Veteran
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: Reviews in Australian Studies , vol. 2 no. 5 2007;
— Review of Well Done, Those Men : Memoirs of a Vietnam Veteran 2005 single work autobiography -
The Vietnam Experience and the Australian Folk's New Legend
2007
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Folklore , November vol. 22 no. 2007; (p. 182-192) -
Westerly Non-Fiction Review 2006-2007
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , November vol. 52 no. 2007; (p. 160-171)
— Review of 'Flashing Eyes and Floating Hair' : A Reading of Gwen Harwood's Pseudonymous Poetry 2006 single work criticism ; The Higher Self in Christopher Brennan's 'Poems' : Esotericism, Romanticism, Symbolism 2006 single work criticism ; Prince of the Church : Patrick Francis Moran, 1830-1911 2007 single work biography ; Homing In : Essays on Australian Literature and Selfhood 2006 selected work criticism essay autobiography ; Mind the Country : Tim Winton's Fiction 2006 single work criticism ; My Father's Compass : A Memoir 2007 single work autobiography ; Darby : One Hundred Years of Life in a Changing Culture 2006 single work life story ; Prisoners of the Japanese : Literary Imagination and the Prisoner-of-War Experience 2006 single work criticism ; Translating Lives : Living with Two Languages and Cultures 2007 anthology autobiography ; The Sea Coast of Bohemia : Literary Life in Sydney's Roaring Twenties 1992 single work criticism ; The Forgotten Children : Fairbridge Farm School and Its Betrayal of Australia's Child Migrants 2007 single work autobiography ; Well Done, Those Men : Memoirs of a Vietnam Veteran 2005 single work autobiography ; David Malouf 2007 single work criticism ; A Story To Tell 2006 single work autobiography ; The Best Australian Essays 2006 2006 anthology essay ; Sunrise West 2007 single work autobiography ; A Revealed Life : Australian Writers and Their Journeys in Memoir 2007 anthology autobiography ; Another Country 2007 selected work prose ; The Melancholy Dane : (A Portrait of the Poet as a Young Man) 2006 single work autobiography -
Books Non-Fiction
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 9 - 10 June 2007; (p. 24)
— Review of Well Done, Those Men : Memoirs of a Vietnam Veteran 2005 single work autobiography
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Survivor's Horror
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 23 - 24 April 2005; (p. 7)
— Review of Well Done, Those Men : Memoirs of a Vietnam Veteran 2005 single work autobiography -
In Short : Non-Fiction
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 11-12 June 2005; (p. 27)
— Review of Well Done, Those Men : Memoirs of a Vietnam Veteran 2005 single work autobiography -
Well Done That Man!
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: AQ : Journal of Contemporary Analysis , May-June vol. 77 no. 3 2005; (p. 37-40)
— Review of Well Done, Those Men : Memoirs of a Vietnam Veteran 2005 single work autobiography -
Casualties of War
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: Quadrant , November vol. 49 no. 11 2005; (p. 88-90)
— Review of Russian Anzacs in Australian History 2005 single work non-fiction ; Well Done, Those Men : Memoirs of a Vietnam Veteran 2005 single work autobiography -
Into the Heat of Battle
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 21 April 2007; (p. 12)
— Review of Gallipoli Correspondent : The Frontline Diary of C.E.W. Bean 1983 single work diary ; The Straits Impregnable 1916 single work novel ; Well Done, Those Men : Memoirs of a Vietnam Veteran 2005 single work autobiography -
The Vietnam Experience and the Australian Folk's New Legend
2007
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Folklore , November vol. 22 no. 2007; (p. 182-192)
Awards
- 2012 winner The National Year of Reading 2012 Our Story Collection — Victoria See NYOR Our Story winners.
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cVietnam,cSoutheast Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
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cAustralia,c
- 1960s
- 1970s