To answer a question- no, I am not a one-man band. But I am the last surviving member of that platoon who began this battle for validation with the courage of my convictions. Initially, there were five of us who set out on this journey: myself, Kevin Lloyd-Thomas; Edward Colmer; Richard Bigwood; Dennis Manski (pictured); and Allan Roach. Each of us had travelled the same route in Vietnam- reinforcements to the 4th Battalion, then the posting to the 2nd D&E Platoon, and then to the 9th Battalion to conclude our 12-month tours of duty. (Except that in my case, I was wounded with the 9th Battalion and came home earlier than the others). Each of us at one time or another had spoken (or written) about our experience in the 2nd D&E Platoon after the 4th Battalion had gone home, and each of us had been ridiculed for it- essentially by ex-4th Battalion members who were aghast that we had done more in a month than most of them had done in a year.. Chief among our protagonists was a medal-cheat, Alan Price. He was President of the 4th Battalion Association (QLD) and refused to entertain the notion of any such platoon and wiped his hands of us. None of us had ever met since 1969- so there was never any question of deceit or collusion. It was a chance meeting I had with Kevin Lloyd-Thomas in Sydney in the late 1990's that sparked the decision to correct the military records. My initial action was to create a web site ('One Man's War') to seek out any other former members if the platoon and any information (evidence) that anyone had in relation to it. The Bulletin magazine became aware of the battle and put me on its front cover in August 2006 with an editorial to accompany it- and that sparked widespread debate. The debate turned ugly- as other veterans accused us of 'fantasy' and so on. But the more we advanced the matter publicly, the more personal the attacks became. We became the targets of an orchestrated vilification that questioned our service histories, work histories, and even our private lives. This was a vicious underbelly to the veteran community no one had ever seen before- low-lifes mostly, fraudsters, criminals, medal-cheats and the like. It was aided and abetted by former army officers seeking to maintain the Anzac ethos, recalcitrant military historians, and a small number of criminal vigilantes headed up by a convicted paedphile (Keith Tennant of Queensland) and a false 'hero' from the battle of Long Tan- Robert Buick. Those men gathered sick, depraved sycophants veterans around them to slander us, behind pseudonyms of course as all cowards do. Very quickly, a couple of those men who had started out with us dropped off- unwilling to be drawn into a slanging match which compromised their relationships with other members of units they had fought with. In 2005, we were joined by our former platoon commander, Corporal Jim Riddle who we had successfully repatriated from England despite stiff opposition by various politicians , and he entered the fray with gusto. When the Australian War Memorial and politicians refused to listen, we upped the ante, and raised the issue of the atrocities which were at the very heart of the whole matter. One - a former AFP officer - provided all the legal framework and jargon, and put this into the mix. Now- the attacks became ferocious. Death threats, and threats of other violence became more pronounced. I was stabbed in the back; Jim Riddle was bashed unconscious and sent back to England as a virtual vegetable; and I was bashed again on a major highway by two cowards who leapt from vehicle while I was exercising a knee replacement. This became too much for Roach and Manski who went into hiding and wiped their hands of it. Lloyd-Thomas said he had said and done all he could and also opted out. Bigwood made a Stat Dec which he sent to the Attorney-General, and then withdrew his support, preferring the bosom of his 9th Battalion mates, realising that standing up against the military affected the way other veterans related to him. Edward Colmer suffered badly from PTSD and although he fought hard initially, was forced to retire when attacks against him became just as vile as those against me. As well, there was a certain jealousy that engulfed the group. My memoir -'The War Within' - which had outlined the 2nd D&E Platoon matter became so successful that some were resentful of its success and felt I was riding the whole debate as a means of selling books (which was true to a certain extent, as all authors are encouraged to do by their publishers. Bob Buick had done exactly the same thing). Some wanted to pursue other financial avenues- like a documentary. A young documentary-maker - Adam Rainford - had actually started working on the project but lacked the finances to pursue it to its conclusion, and when he saw me bashed, decided the safety of he and his young family should be his primary concern. Another veteran of the platoon - Robert Enright - then came to the fore. He had actually raised the issue of atrocities back in 1976 with a story in the NT News, and on radio but had been unaware of the outrage that had engulfed us more recently. He provided more details about the platoon and its activities from his perspective, validated my role in the platoon and at the ambush, then quietly exited. More recently, Ian Ramadge - also a former member of the platoon - and who had been unaware of the battle over the last decade, joined in and accompanied me to the AWM to hand the petition over. He defies anyone to question him about this matter. And that's we're at today.........