PAUL Carpenter turned 21 years of age while training at Canungra for the Vietnam War.

He, like many around him, had been conscripted.

When his name came out in the draw, he was in shock. He didn’t want to go anywhere and was apprehensive.

“I didn’t like being told what to do,” he said reflecting on a period in his life that would have long lasting impacts.

It was back in 1968 and although that was 45 years ago, those memories come flooding back to Paul as if it was yesterday.

When he arrived at Saigon airport his life underwent a drastic change.

“It was crazy, all we could see was army personnel, fighter jets, holes in the tarmac and people with guns.”

He was an army engineer and he won’t admit it but probably had one of the most vulnerable roles in Vietnam at the time.

He says there was no-where in Vietnam that was completely safe but as a member of the land clearing team he spent most of his time ‘out bush’.