"I Was Only 19" A Song About PTSD by John Schumann

[@MrKangaroo123]

Thankyou for reacting to this XMC in just a little over three weeks on the 25th it will be ANZAC day here in Australia so This reaction is actually really timely. thanks again cobber and keep doing what your doing, you are a good one mate.

[@XMCriminal]

I’m glad you enjoyed it. I definitely enjoyed it and I hope more people, especially veterans continue to find this song along with others like this one. 🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@JennyMillikan]

Anzac day 25th April. Australian New Zealand army corps. RIP to our soldiers that didn't come back and thoughts to the ones that did. Never forgotten. Respect to our American friends in war. Adelaide South Australia

[@LivH-m7y]

Thank you to all veterans who have served their countries. This song brings the reality of war to the fore. Beautiful lyrics and melody.

[@martinunwin9654]

I'm 73 years old and I have nothing but the greatest respect for everyone who served their country (friend or foe) and looking back, with the benefit of hindsight, it's always the young (19YO) who still have the gullibility and naivety to believe the BS handed out to us. "Send the kids to war, tell em they'll be heroes and MUST do their duty to the flag" PS I'm Australian and I thank you all for your sacrifices.

[@Renfair333]

My grandfather was 19 when he was captured. Spent 42-45 in a Japanese POW camp. Before they came home the families were told not to talk about it. To change the subject when it came up. "Less said, sooner mended" was the motto. No one knew better. I can't imagine the isolation and shame he felt. He saw his friends descend into alcoholism, DV and self ending over the years. He went on in silence until at 40 he suddenly collapsed outside Wynyard station and started shaking. The medicine helped but at 70 he was in hospital with Legionnaires and they had to stop them. All those years later and I saw the shaking start again. Grandma told me the nightmares and screaming in his sleep never stopped. I asked him about it his service one day and he talked for hours. It was the first time someone in the family asked. We kept talking over the final years. The stories he told were the good ones. About mateship and jokes with his comrades. He spoke of forgiveness and praying for the souls of the enemy. He protected me. After, I saw a weight lifted from him. It was beautiful. When the dementia started and I would sit with him he started talking again. This time, I heard things that haunt me to this day but I'm so glad he did. His honesty and trust in me was a gift. It was an honour to hear his stories. Thank you for your service. You aren't forgotten and feel no shame for not being ok. Less said, sooner mended didn't help then and doesn't help now. Thank you for sharing your story. Please keep talking about it when you want to and reach out for help when you need it. All the very best from Sydney.

[@helenmckeetaylor9409]

My Dad too, fall of Singapore > Changi Prison > the "Burma Railway" 😔

[@Renfair333]

@@helenmckeetaylor9409 I hope he was able to go on and live a wonderful life. We owe them so much. ❤️

[@karentony3397]

Yes. Love your response! Luv from Australia ❤️🎼❤️🎼

[@errolgrierson430]

Your appreciated ,thank you

[@personofearth5076]

God bless you man! God bless you! Have you noticed that it's always the elites who tell us who our enemies are and who we have to fight and it's always a country that they can benefit from. I wish you nothing but happiness my friend. Cheers from us Aussies!

[@redherring6154]

Do you mean poor men fight rich men’s battles? Oh tickle me pink🇦🇺 The more things change the more they stay the same!

[@JoDunkley-Lewis]

I apologize thank you for your sevices mate

[@charliemike7458]

I was 19 when I joined the Army in 1972. As A Cav Scout I got lucky during my 20 year stretch cause I missed Nam at the start, Desert Storm at the end and Panama and Grenada in the middle. During my time in I met a lot of Combat Vets who told me the same thing, "you didn't miss a damn thing". I knew these people and they almost always covered it up and didn't want to talk about it.Don't get me wrong, they were always willing to talk about the funny things that happened but never really wanted to get serious. Especially with civilians. Thank you for serving, it is a lot more than most can say. GOD Bless!

[@sopwithpuppy]

The song is subtitled "a walk in the light green". "It's a song about two mates of mine who went to Vietnam, came back Agent Orange victims. The title "A Walk in the Light Green" stems from the fact that when the Australian soldiers in Vietnam were given their missions, they looked at the areas where they'd be working in on the map and if it was dark green on the map, then there was cause for some consolation, because dark green meant thick jungle, lots of cover, and there were no mines. If they were working in areas that were light green on the map, that meant light jungle, not much cover, and heaps of mines. This is a song for Mick and Frankie. It's called "A walk in the light green". John Schumann (Redgum). A direct quote from a live version of this song I have. When I was 15, I signed up to join the Australian Army as an Apprentice Radio Tradesman. We went drinking in town on a leave when I was just 16. We ended up throwing up in the gutter, and a Police car stopped and the female officer got out, looked at us and noted we were barely 16yo (drinking age here in Australia is 18). She said she was going to charge us with underage drinking, and we replied "we're old enough to join the Army, and to fight overseas". She told us to go home.

[@Renfair333]

Thank you for all you did. We're proud of you.

[@seaster2493]

Thanks for sharing your story, it's important to be heard... wishing you all the best. I was only 19"" was our wake up call , it sobered up (ie: the penny dropped, so to say) many an Australian at the time of it's release.

[@BrendanBlack-jc8dt]

Thank you from Australia

[@bevhowell7665]

Reaction A1 , your feelings and reactions to coming home , to a country who didn’t see your pain, was revealing the world keeps turning amongst the suffering of others.

[@bryantsmith3372]

This is really sad, I am having mixed emotions about this, anger and sadness.

[@theconvictedquokka]

Its sadly supposed to but still well done

[@bryantsmith3372]

@@theconvictedquokka I never got to enlist in the military, I did get to join the Civil Air Patrol as a cadet from 2014 to 2019.

[@theconvictedquokka]

@bryantsmith3372 yea I was going to but my pop that was in vietnam talked me out of it

[@bryantsmith3372]

@theconvictedquokka Joining Civil Air Patrol?

[@theconvictedquokka]

@@bryantsmith3372 no AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE WAS AIMING AT THE ARMY

[@CertifiedSunset]

This struck a chord with me and why I never decided to join. Aside from not liking being told what to do, the potential mental trauma and alck of assistance steered me away from service. It's very insiteful to hear directly from someone who has experienced it firsthand. I'm a longtime viewer but it's always enjoyable to hear the other side. Sorry for any rambling since I'm a bit drunk ATM, but thank you for your service, I truly do appreciate the sacrifices that our soldiers make for us and our country. It's jsut sad that our government is so earger to throw our soldiers at any conflict we can find, so much needless death. I love our country, but I absolutley hate our politicians and I'm sure many viewers here would agree with my stance. Fuck the government, and keep those you love close to you, because they will not be there forever. Man, typing this made me shed a tear.

[@XMCriminal]

I agree homie, and thank you for the comment, I like reading them. For me, I could deal with getting told what to do, but it was hard for me to listen if the person barking orders was a moron. I get it though, it’s hard to want to fight for something that sometimes feels pointless.

[@GregDunne-zf2ep]

Where I grew up we had a nursing home full of vets from ww2 Korea veitnam arms legs missing burns that were unbelievable napalm dropped on our troops eyes burnt closed I was a kid and on the weekend you would see people taking them out in wheelchairs my grandfathers never spoke about it mums father was a tank commander for 4 years fighting the nazis then new Guinea not once did he speak about it

[@JoDunkley-Lewis]

Hey mate, you americans soldier are rhe most forgotten distespected people i know, if u listen to the story he saidhis brother in law who went to war back in 196?, and it was true when they saw how they treated my dad and others this song found full and utter respect for our vets old and new, check out info on anzac day thats a 4am get up to place wreaths and listen to those sad sounding trumpets to remember out anzac day vets

[@samrominski2290]

My dads cousin was an army medic in vietnam who suffered and became addicted to heroin and i never got to meet him my dad says he was a funny guy

[@goannaj3243]

That chewing tobacco is grossing me out, but at least I can look away when the mug comes up. Thanks for your service.

[@GregDunne-zf2ep]

Our soldiers were treated like shit Ozzie's have been fighting with America since ww1 my family have been fighting since the boar war and before

[@kathyconway5327]

That next soldier may not come forth if we spend time on the soldiers that came back broken is the position of Defence. The sense that in Australia people were adverse to returning soldiers from Vietnam seems out of whack with my memory but in my small State of SA the Returned Services League were not a powerful lobby, they didn’t own big clubs with gambling machines - the only one I know in Adelaide hosts blues music, has a few pool tables and they used to have a lawn bowls team. But in the big smoke of Sydney they are money making machines and political lobbyists. So that this song and an important other - When The War is Over by Cold Chisel - are due to both these bands being from SA. Cold Chisel also wrote Khe Shan in the bands infancy. Not a great song but they didn’t know that they and the song would become famous at the time. Australians never fought at Khe Shan. Schumann did a cover which corrected the history.

[@martinmckowen1588]

There are anecdotes of soldiers returning home from Vietnam and being refused access to RSLs.

[@kathyconway5327]

@@martinmckowen1588 I heard those anecdotes as well and they came with no surprise as the RSL on the eastern seaboard became a powerful and wealthy lobby group which was more interested in their involvement in conservatives politics than it was with the soldiers they purported to serve. I once saw servicemen sat at a table outside a random supermarket, not in a shopping precinct, asking for funds for veterans. I was set to donate because it looked local but they weren’t taking cash. FU I thought. Where would the funds go anyway?

[@hayloft3834]

The Returned & Services League of Australia is a separate entity from RSL Clubs. In fact most RSL Sub-Branches are relatively small associations.

[@DanSeabright]

cool reaction mate, im ex british infantry. you're never alone brother, get in touch if you struggle. trump 2024 💪

[@dannydaniels2787]

Still shit here in Oz...you have to prove beyond reasonable doubt you have PTSD before you get your Gold card. Being deployed as infantry wasn't enough...in Australia too only really get recognised on one day a year ANZAC Day. Every other time good luck getting perks or benefits you're invisible.

[@johnnichol9412]

Even on Anzac Day most are more interested in the public holiday, the beach or the footy.

[@matthewgreer7735]

Did you break?

[@dutchroll]

I'm an ex aussie military vet myself (16 years service through the 80s and 90s) and the sad thing is most Aussies won't get the extreme irony of you reacting so sympathetically to a song written and performed by John Schumann while having a "let's go Brandon" logo in the corner. Schumann would be appalled, because although he strongly supports veterans rights, I suspect he has absolutely nothing else in common with you (quite the opposite).

[@kathyconway5327]

Thanks for the intel re let’s go Brandon - the host is clearly an ignorant c*nt.

[@redherring6154]

Let’s go Brandon….ooops he’s gone ! and Im still a Aussie

[@dutchroll]

@@redherring6154 I think it’s hilarious all the MAGAs have wasted so much of their own time and money on “let’s go Brandon” merchandise, which is now totally irrelevant. This was always likely to happen, but the MAGAs are not the sharpest tools in the shed.

[@AdamEwart]

Imagine doing a reaction video about the horror of war and PTSD, written by a band you've never heard of, about a war you know nothing about, and plastering your warped political bias all over it... That is seriously such an American thing to do.

[@peterfagan5000]

Supporting a bloke who faked bone spurs and has denigrated veterans. Does this munt have any idea of the irony?