Having served Australia for more than 30 years, Walter Buldo remains a proud veteran despite the horrors of war witnessed both as a soldier and a civilian. He's 88 and his work is far from done.
Walter Buldo served Australia for more than 30 years — he's now 88 and his work still isn't doneIt's a far cry from his former life in Europe under the rule of the Blackshirts in Italy, or in the jungles of Vietnam, where he found himself inadvertently exposed to Agent Orange .
Mr Buldo mused that while "everyone who wanted a job joined the fascist party", his father joined the military instead, where he was soon thrust onto the frontline of Italy's campaign in Africa. "Dad said, 'I am going to take my two sons back to Australia so they will never have to serve in the army'."Despite his father's wishes, Mr Buldo fell in love with a life as a national service member.From the National Service, he moved into the Citizen Military Forces — now known as the reserves — before enlisting full-time into the military as a sergeant, where he was sent to Vietnam.
He ended up serving nine months before a less than conventional return to headquarters in Townsville."Very exciting, the kids were all excited, I was excited. My wife wasn't."The cyclone devastated the north Queensland community and is still regarded as one of the most intense cyclones ever to hit the state.
Because his illness is service-related, the 88-year-old's CGM is fully funded by the DVA. But he's the first to admit that not all veterans have been so lucky in their dealings with the federal government.
War Veteran Veteran Funding Veteran Support National Service Servicemen Servicewomen Army Military Soldier Volunteer Veteran Compensation Blackshirts Benito Mussolini Fascism Nazi Germany Asmara Abyssinia PTSD Citizen Military Forces Army Reserves Viet-Cong Cyclone Althea Natural Disaster Agent Orange Diabetes Continuous Glucose Monitoring Department Of Veteran Affairs Veteran Suicide Digger Ex-Service Viet Cong
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