Concerning A Conscript's Death In Vietnam

Unknown



Come all you sons and daughters of this rich, wide land,
Lift up your voices and lift up your hands,
They are selling this country to America and then
They are sealing the bargain with conscripted men.

The first Australian conscript is barely one day dead
When HMAS Sydney goes sailing through the Heads
With four hundred more, four hundred more,
To murder and be murdered for the madmen who want war.

We did not know the dead man, we know he once drew breath,
We know nobody's freedom was paid for with his death,
And how many more, how many more,
Will murder and be murdered for the madmen who want war?

There's a man with a smile who sympathy extends
To all the grieving relatives and all the grieving friends,
In this nation's highest interest, he says this conscript died,
We are shamed by his death, we are shamed by the man who lied.


Anonymously contributed to Singabout, Volume 6, Number 1, 1966.


Errol Wayne Noack was the first Australian conscript to die in service in the Vietnam War.

Follow this link to the Adelaide Advertiser story reporting his death.