SUNDAY marked the end of a 50-year story of sadness and pride for Swan Hill resident Joanne Anderson and her family.
Mrs Anderson’s uncle, Corporal Reginald Hillier, was a decorated soldier who was killed in the Vietnam War in 1965.
His body was buried in a Malaysian war cemetery for 50 years because, prior to 1966, Australian soldiers killed at war were not repatriated unless the families paid the 500 pound cost.
Mrs Anderson embarked on a journey to Darwin last week to attend official services and ceremonies that culminated with Cpl Hillier’s reinterment on Sunday.
Mrs Anderson’s mother, Barbara Benzely, spoke of her brother and the plight to get him home for all of Mrs Anderson’s life.
“It was like she was obsessed with it,” Ms Benzely said.
Keith Payne, the oldest living Australian to receive the Victoria Cross medal, attended the service in Darwin and said Cpl Hillier would have received more medals had he not been limited by an old British law stating that a deceased soldier could only receive one of two medals.
For more on this story pick up a copy of Fridays Guardian (June 17, 2016)
