Rick McCarthy warms up to Honour our Fallen trek with Goulburn Legacy relay

Bowral man, Rick McCarthy OAM, will walk a section of the 9.7km relay route through Goulburn on Thursday, July 27.

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Mr McCarthy founded the charity, Honour Our Fallen, in 2018 but was also a Legacy member from 1986 until 2017.

"I have a lot of respect for Legacy," the Vietnam veteran said.

"I always believed in Legacy and what it stood for so when I heard about the Relay it was my my way of thanking my club (Bowral) for their understanding when I couldn't give as much time as others. It's a great cause."

The relay begins at the Big Merino at 10am Thursday and makes its way along Goulburn's main street, past Legacy Lodge in Lagoon Street before ending in Belmore Park with an official ceremony at noon. The torch is travelling around Australia to mark Legacy's 100^th anniversary.

Mr McCarthy will walk several hundred metres, which pales in comparison to his next fundraising challenge for his charity. On August 17 he will start a 1050km walk from Enoggera Barracks memorial in Queensland to Bowral. He is aiming to raise $30,000.

He was guest speaker at a Goulburn Legacy luncheon for 47 war widows at the Soldiers Club on Wednesday, July 26.

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Mr McCarthy was part of the second tour of Vietnam with the 6^th Battalion from 1969 to 1970. When the soldiers returned "they were given 30 seconds of applause" and their pay at the airport.

"Then we were filtered straight back into society and told not to say anything more," he said.

The veteran remembered the "silence" when people heard he'd fought in Vietnam. He recalled as a Qantas pilot "kicking people out of the room" due to their reaction.

By contrast, when he and his wife travelled to Canada in the US years later, he met a Vietnam veteran in New Orleans who gave him a wristband which identified him as a soldier in the war.

"Everyone would say 'thank you for your service' as they walked past...There was special parking for veterans at shopping centres.. At Gridiron matches the crowd stood up and applauded war veterans for two minutes," Mr McCarthy said.

"It was all very strange to me because of the way we were treated in Australia but I was deeply grateful."

The experience spurred him to establish Honour our Fallen. The charity is committed to displaying an Australian flag annually on the graves or ashes plaques of every war veteran. They are placed each Anzac and Remembrance Day.

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Facilitators work with schools and RSL sub branches. School students work from supplied lists to research the names and place the flags for deceased veterans from every campaign since the Boer War. The initiative now occurs in 180 cemeteries around Australia.

Mr McCarthy said he eagerly took up the federal government's request to honour Vietnam War veterans in August. It will mark 50 years since allied troops pulled out.

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From August 17 he will walk up to 40km a day to raise money for his charity and awareness of servicemen and women's contribution. His trek will end in Bowral on September 24.

"My idea is that if we make enough politicians aware of the (war grave flags) program, we can make it a national one," he said.

"We believe this is a way for the community to show their appreciation of what the diggers did for us as a country.

"In doing so, it gives kids life skills, empathy, dedication and knowledge of our great military history. It isn't glorifying war but asking the community to show its gratitude."

For more information about Honour Our Fallen, visit honourourfallen.com

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