Klaus Scheuermann describes 'welcome home' parades, 2008

Transcript of sound recording

There was a great deal of elation actually coming home and then - you know, with the guys or with most of the guys you tended to go over with - and then marching through the streets of Brisbane. It was good. We had a fairly rousing welcome. There was the odd protest around, I guess, but generally Queensland took to us - you know, we were a Queensland battalion, 8RAR - and they took to us with a lot of affection and I had no bad recollections of that march whatsoever. We were stoked. We were proud and we felt appreciated. Some of the higher, you know, taller buildings and stuff, you know, confetti was scattered around and, you know, young and old generally cheered us. And it felt like any Anzac Day.

I was a serving soldier and I'd been twice to Vietnam when I was - initially I was with 5RAR. We came back in 67 with them in Sydney and again that welcome was good, although it was marred by one incident where - the blood incident - but that was the only thing. There again, the majority of people welcomed us.

But now that was - you know, this march in Brisbane - was we come home in November 1970 and, you know, the feeling up here was pretty positive.

I think the problem arises when the individual came back. Some of the people who had finished their time halfway through a tour came back as individuals, and obviously it was very hard for them to march because, you know, we marched as form bodies. We went as form bodies. And so they really had no ... they had difficulty. They were spirited back and, you know, the idea was to get them back as quickly as possible home. But they really never had the opportunity to sort of have a 'welcome home' parade with a unit, so a lot of those guys tend to be pretty disenchanted by that, understandably.