(ADDRESS DELETED) The Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP Prime Minister of Australia cc’d: Dr Brendan Nelson, Director, Australian War Memorial The Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP Prime Minister of Australia cc’d: Dr Brendan Nelson, Director, Australian War Memorial Dear Prime Minister Re: A 45-year battle to Recognise a Platoon that Served this Country in Vietnam I am referring this matter to you directly as a last resort because it has apparently been beyond the intellect and common sense of your predecessors to deal with it. This letter comes with an on-line petition which currently has more than 12,500 signatures of genuine Australians who are outraged by a devious, corrupt Australian military and a bureaucratic maze which has left 40 infantrymen who served their country in Vietnam in a ‘no-mans-land’. I refer to the deletion of the 2nd D&E Platoon from all records of the war, with its concomitant impact on the integrity not only on Australian military history but the service records of all who served in it. The facts are simple and clear-cut: • the platoon was formed by Major George Pratt on May 12th 1969 in response to a particular strategic emergency developing in the Phuoc Tuy Province (Pratt has publicly confirmed this fact) • it comprised 40 regular infantrymen who had previously reinforced the 4th Battalion • it was initially led by Lt Barry Parkin who has stated publicly that he was called in from the field to ‘train up and lead the 2nd D&E Platoon and that it was always known by that name’ • the platoon engaged the enemy in a number of decisive battles during May 1969 which are on the public record, and the media of the day • afterwards, the infantrymen were ordered to drag bodies to a bomb crater where engineers destroyed them, and strap others to the backs of APCs as ‘trophies’ (in contravention of the 1949 Geneva Convention dealing with men killed in combat) • when photographs of these incidents were received in Australia by the High Command, all hell broke loose and an investigation was ordered by General Hay • the Armoured Corps officer who was in charge of the combined armour/infantry force (Capt Tom Arrowsmith SG) was immediately demoted- and the 2nd D&E Platoon disbanded • all trace of the 2nd D&E Platoon was then destroyed from the infantry records- but a single entry in the Engineers Narratives dated May 14 1969 was overlooked. It referred to a ‘new’ D&E Platoon (which, when found, was a decisive development) • as far back as 1972, the Army has denied this platoon ever existed- and the Australian War Memorial and the Department of Veteran Affairs has maintained this lie  • over time, various Ministers and even Senators have been lied to, misled, and deceived by statute officers of both organisations, and in 2011 a Parliamentary Hearing on Petitions was deceived by the national historian who said, ‘..there was no evidence’ that this platoon existed (ignoring the public statements by two former ADF officers, and the men who fought in it) • in 2008, the Army History finally confirmed that two D&E Platoons existed in the Task Force (when only one was allowed) which meant one had been created without Cabinet’s permission  • in 2008, the federal government admitted that the 2nd D&E Platoon had existed and would be ‘forever enshrined in the nation’s history’ (statement by the Hon Mike Kelly MP on May 28th )……but neither the Australian War Memorial or the Department of Veteran Affairs will accept that decision • and in 2014, the Hon Stuart Robert MP, Assistant Minister for Defence (also, like Mike Kelly, ex-military) stated that: ‘….everyone associated with it knew it as the ‘2nd D&E Platoon….’ Which brings the matter to your desk. On May 27th 2015 I asked the ABC’s ‘Q&A’ panel a question about the regular sanitisation and destruction of military records which is done to protect the reputations of senior officers and save governments from potential embarrassment.  One of those panellists was Senator Arthur Sinodinis OA who was instrumental in your rise to power. I am sad to say that while Senator Sinodinis uttered an assurance publicly that he would be looking into the matter with a view to reconciling the falsification of history and the bastardisation of men’s service records, cracking the military bureaucracy has proved to be beyond his powers as well. Investigative journalist, Frank Walker has confirmed these corruptions in his work, ‘Ghost Platoon’ while I placed all the evidence in book form, ’Anzacs Betrayed’- held by the National Vietnam Veterans Museum, Phillip Island. Prime Minister, this conundrum spins on one piece of bureaucratic military argon- that no ‘2nd D&E Platoon’ was ever recorded officially on the Order of Battle- and therefore in the absence of paperwork, cannot exist at all. Such stupidity. But when senior army officers deliberately set out to deceive a government, of course all paperwork would be destroyed. (I even have a document signed by a Major Joshua in which he alludes to the deliberate deception of Cabinet with respect to ‘playing a number of tunes’ as far as ‘manpower figures’ were concerned. I also have a Defence document in my possession which clearly states that Defence documents are regularly destroyed. These documents have been passed to the Honourable Senator. Prime Minister, the integrity of a man’s service records should be sacrosanct- especially those who laid their lives on the line which the men of this platoon did. Unbeknown to us at the time, we had been placed in front of a large enemy force (of about 80 Viet Cong), without an officer to lead us, with no sergeant, outside the range of artillery (contrary to accepted military practice of the day) and used as bait to secure ‘gallantry’ medals for an officer or two and to hell with the risk. In effect, one single platoon of Australian infantrymen was surrounded for a month- and at a little village called Thua Tich on May 29th 1969 would surely have been destroyed except for the leadership of a former English Marine (Corporal Jim Riddle) who had assumed command of the infantry contingent- and who would never rate a mention in any reports of the battle. That, of course, was typical Australian Army- rewarding officers while ignoring men who did the real soldiering. In a nutshell, that is the matter. I urge you to look beyond the obfuscations of the national historian, Ashley Ekins (who never set foot on a battlefield) and apply a common sense rationale to this matter which has affected the lives and reputations of the men in this platoon for so many years. Yours Sincerely Don Tate  Army Number: 1201907 ex-1ARU; ex-4RAR; ex-9RAR; ex-1Military Hospital PS After being wounded with the 9th Battalion on July 19 1969, I spent two years in hospital and remain permanently physically disabled. This matter needs to be rectified for future generations of all who served in the 2nd D&E Platoon, including my children and grandchildren PSS: I am placing a photograph on the on-line petition site which is at the heart of this matter- the cover-up of the illegal treatment of enemy soldiers at Thua Tich on May 30 1969