of possibly the only disappointment in
his career: he never deployed again.
When he returned, he was one of those in the
rows and rows of khaki uniforms on parade
who actually had medals on their chest.
Merv said he wore the Infantry Combat
Badge but was conscious that for more
than half of his tour of Vietnam, he
had been the operations clerk.
“I sat in the Battalion Command Post,
followed progress on a map, and wrote the
day-to-day goings-on that needed to be
recorded in the operations log,” he said.
It wasn’t by choice. When he arrived
in the Battalion, he and another soldier
chosen at random by the adjutant were
allocated “clerical duties” and that was that.
After being sent on a clerical course
in 1970, the die was cast.
Merv served in three Fire Support Bases,
Nola, Tess and Gail and in addition to
his operations clerk duties participated
in overnight ambushes and the patrolling
program although usually four-day patrols,
not like some of patrols lasting weeks
carried out b