You're Leaving Tomorrow

The Vietnam conflict was an event that bitterly divided Australian society. While many people supported the government's military response to the perceived threat posed by expasionist communism, many others violently opposed our participation in the war and took their opposition to the streets. The servicemen and conscripts who had to undertake active service and the members of the press corps who reported on the action found themselves caught up in the mess and mayhem. You're leaving tomorrow provides a fascinating insight into these turbulent times. It is full of striking images from the Fairfax archive that evoke the full emotional spectrum of a nation as much at war with itself as another country. Malcolm Brown shares his experiences of National Service as a young man who was deeply ambivalent both about the war and the peace movement in a moving piece that captures first-hand the confusion and upheaval of the moment. Stuart MacGladrie was a young photographer who spent a nervous three-month tour of duty stationed at Bien Hoa with 1RAR. His photographs record the daily realities for the troops, from showering to going out on patrol, and are published here for the first time.Candace Sutton describes the events of the war from the perspective of the correspondents of the AAP in the combat zones. She considers how the papers of the day presented these accounts and reported also on the turmoil at home.