John Fairley - Army Photographer
Illawarra Mercury
Saturday April 21, 2007
As an army photographer and national serviceman in 1970, John Fairley was sent anywhere there was an Australian soldier and in 11 months he covered all of South Vietnam.
He'd arrive by helicopter in the midst of an operation with the re-supply and fly out four to five days later.One week he'd be in the thickest of jungles in a full-scale assault against the Viet Cong and the next he'd be taking photographs of mountain tribes as soldiers searched their village for any signs of the enemy.He would lug his standard-issue backpack, two still cameras and a movie camera everywhere.His brief as an army public relations photographer was to take images of soldiers for newspapers and television news programs back home.Photographing the carnage of war was not required, although he says he has his own collection in a box somewhere - images he's reluctant to show.His North Wollongong apartment overlooking Belmore Basin is a far cry from the Long Hai Hills where the dense forest was littered with mines."I was scared a lot of the time," Fairley says. "The Viet Cong had been in the Long Hai Hills for a number of years and it was heavily mined, but I had no choice but to be there. I was ordered to go where the Australian soldiers went."He was unable to protect his ears, like the rest of the soldiers, during heavy fire, bombing raids and explosions because at the time he'd be taking photographs.It was only when he returned home in December 1970 that he realised his hearing had been permanently damaged.Like other veterans, Fairley's experience of the war was disturbing and challenging and left a huge and lasting impact.He returned to Sydney a different man and would stay out all night partying - something he'd never done before."The war was traumatic," he says. "The highlight for me was coming home. You counted the days that you were there and the days left till you got home."But once home he couldn't escape the images of war and for 37 years he's suffered flashbacks and regular nightmares."I think every Vietnam vet still has nightmares. It was pretty horrific," he says.After a year living in Sydney and working in his old job as a commercial photographer he gave up his career and headed home with his wife to Dapto to work in the family owned business, Fairley's Mitre Ten.But it took about another four years for him to settle down."The day I came back I knew I wasn't going to be a photographer anymore," Fairley says. "I just couldn't handle Sydney, I had to get out, I had to get out of that crowded feeling, I had to get away from the noise."Only his family and closest friends knew he had served in Vietnam and it was a secret he kept until the Welcome Home Parade in October 1987.
© 2007 Illawarra Mercury