By Luke Voogt
A Geelong hairdresser and cafe are leading the charge to make April “Veterans Month” with free coffee and haircuts for ex-service members.
Hairdresser Lulu Parkinson, whose uncle served in Vietnam, called on businesses to offer veterans free or discounted services for the month.
“We want to get a heap of businesses on board,” she said.
“Let’s start giving because they gave so much for us. If half a dozen hairdressers got onto it that would be fantastic.”
For Vietnam veteran John Pepperdine the gesture is more than just a freebie.
“It shows the community believes in us and that we are appreciated,” he said.
“We went through a lot; it’s only been the last two decades or so that we’ve actually been acknowledged. But we’re looked after now.”
The National Draft uprooted John from daily life as teacher in 1966 and sent him into the Vietnamese jungle as forward observer.
John patrolled with infantry units and called in artillery strikes on enemy positions. He remembered one patrol where the man beside him was shot in the head.
“We were firing at shadows and then it was all over,” he said.
“We rolled him over and the rest of his head was missing.”
The return home is also vivid in John’s mind.
“We had to get into civvy clothing and we came to Brisbane at 3am or 4am,” he said.
“There were still protesters there calling us child-killers and rapists.
John returned to teaching, but hit the “brick wall” of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) about 20 years ago.
“I would just close the door and cry my eyes out,” he said.
“Then I thought, ’men don’t cry’ and went out and faced the world again.“
His nightmares were so vivid that he would launch his wife from the bed to save her from a dream grenade – one time when she was seven months pregnant.
“She never appreciated being ‘saved’,” he said with a wry grin.
Geelong Totally and Permanently Incapacitated (TPI) ex-soldier Steve Cook was impressed by Lulu’s gesture.
Steve served on peacekeeping missions in Malaysia (1984), Timor Leste (2002) and Cambodia (1992) – which had been torn apart by war and genocide.
In Cambodia soldiers pointed AK 47s at Steve’s head after he took a wrong turn on an unarmed patrol.
He saw things “too horrific for print” in the war-torn country but a truck killing a five-year-old boy haunts him the most.
“Every time I would see something on the TV to do with a child I would break down and cry. Sometimes (PTSD) doesn’t poke its head up until 20 years later.”
With four bulged discs and a bad ankle Steve can’t work, but he still gives back by volunteering.
“It’s very humbling that someone in the community wants to give back to us,” he said.
Ekko Hair Studio is joining forces with neighbouring cafe Moo Mouth, after Lulu approached its director Chloe Mills.
“Hopefully, by working together we can prompt other businesses to get involved,” Chloe said.
John Pepperdine urged any businesses interested in supporting veterans to phone him on 5229 1818.
