(Larger text version bottom of page)
(Larger text version)
Wednesday feature
THE ALBERT and LOGAN NEWS, Wednesday, May 5, 1993
Vietnam fiction based on fact
by Julia Ross
Merv Ryan of Springwood wants readers of his recently published "Vietnam Conscript" to understand the horror of the Vietnam War. It was no accident the Vietnam veteran had his fictional book based on fact released in time for Anzac Day although it is yet to be officially launched in Perth.
"Anybody who reads my book will understand the nightmare of Vietnam. I have put my readers through it, Mr Ryan said. "People who read it will understand the inhumanity of what happened; conscription in peacetime was a violation of human rights. I hope it will never happen again."
The 45-year-old says his book is a contribution to veterans and their families and those in the community affected by Vietnam.
"I may not pay my respects by marching on Anzac Days or attending formalities because this book is my way," he said. "I have stayed a loner among returned servicemen but there are plenty more like me."
Mr Ryan believes most Australians know very little about what has happened to thousands of Vietnam veterans who have passed through repatriation hospitals or drug and alcohol centres around Australia. "I am the first author in Australia to deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in fiction form, as far as I know," he said.
The last section of the book is devoted to post war rehabilitation and is based on painful, personal experience. Married in 1969 to Nancy, Mr Ryan was 21 when he was conscripted and served in Vietnam as an infantry rifleman. His last unit in Nui Dat specialised in night ambushing and while it was the first Australian unit to receive the prestigious South Vietnamese Unit Citation, the experience left him with the legacy of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
"My last session in a repatriation hospital was because I wanted to toss a 10-year drug addiction. Every two hours I had been swallowing Valium at that stage," he said. "How I got into the mess was from trying to beat an alcohol dependency I'd brought home from Vietnam, which caused havoc for many years."
He defied predictions by doctors and kicked the 10-year habit.
Mr Ryan said he planned to write a book about his experiences soon after he returned. "Survival of our family with two children and problems caused by ill health and loss of my jobs kept the book project out of reach for years, to my frustration. In 1982, I began writing the book before the first counselling centre had opened its doors, before most present books and movies on the subject had been born," he said.
The book's release was delayed when thieves broke in to Mr Ryan's house in 1988 and stole his computer which contained six years of work on the book. Thanks to back-up discs, the novel was completed and eventually a publisher was found, Perth firm Access Press.
Mr Ryan said the news fell flat because the day before, his 19-year-old son Doug was killed in a car accident.
The story centres around (one young woman and) two young men, one militant and aggressive, the other a pacifist, who are conscripted to work in a jungle. It is on display in Logan City Libraries and is available for $19.95 from a range of stores including QBD and Mulligan's at Newstead.