Veterans of an elite Vietnam War army unit want the Federal Government to approve an Australian bush site as the first official national war memorial outside Canberra.
The Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV) is the most decorated unit of the war, with four Victoria Cross recipients.
The Grove is located on an active army base on the Gold Coast hinterland and includes 1,006 native trees — one for each member of the AATTV who served between 1962 and 1972.
"The training team was formed overseas and disbanded overseas, so our only common element in Australia is the Land Warfare Centre and our Grove there at Canungra," AATTV Association national president Kerry Gallagher said.
"We don't see ourselves having another concrete plinth in Anzac Avenue … we would like this to be the national memorial to the Training Team."
The AATTV provided advisers to the South Vietnamese Army and remote farmers.
The unit often fought alongside Vietnamese soldiers and villagers, while also working with US Special Forces and the Central Intelligence Agency.
"We were unique," Captain Gallagher said.
"Perhaps a unique memorial is something that is entirely appropriate."
'A place to feel his spirit'
Phyllis Everill was 10 years old when her father, Warrant Officer Kevin Arthur 'Dasher' Wheatley, was killed in action while serving in the AATTV.
Warrant Officer Wheatley was decorated with the Victoria Cross, the General Service Medal (for Malaya), service medals for the Vietnam War and the United States Silver Star, as well as South Vietnamese awards.
"To me it would be a place that I could visit and reflect and remember and just feel his spirit," an emotional Ms Everill said.
"I think just knowing that he was there — you just feel that.
"At the War Memorial you feel like it's ghosts."
The proposal has the support of the former chief of army and governor-general Sir Peter Cosgrove.
"I think it's a good policy to have all the memorials in Canberra for a central place of visitation, but it's pretty full now," he said.
"It may be that the Government needs to look elsewhere."
"The veterans have created this memorial and I've got my fingers crossed that the Government might allow this one to be a national memorial."
Live fire danger
The Federal Government and the Australian Defence Force, however, are not convinced.
The Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Darren Chester, said a balance had to be struck between allowing Australians to respectfully commemorate the ADF while ensuring the safety and security of visitors to the base.
An ADF spokesperson said live-fire activities were conducted at Canungra Field Training Area.
"Given the proximity of the memorial area to the Canungra Field Training Area and the considerable distance from the Kokoda Barracks entrance gate, defence does not consider it appropriate for both security and safety reasons to provide uncontrolled public access to the memorial area," the spokesperson said.
A living memorial
But the AATTV Association and families are not giving up on their proposal.
"It's almost the antithesis of what the training team was," Captain Gallagher said.
"It is a very, very peaceful place and a very beautiful place.
"Go up there and listen to the sounds of the Australian bush, hear the birds.
"It gives quite a degree of peace, particularly to those who've found the journey after Vietnam quite difficult."
