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Mildura Weekly : Friday April 25 2014 Vol 8 No 25
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www.milduraweekly.com.au 78 Mildura Weekly – 25/04/14 EVERY year for the past four years, ex-patriate Australians in Vietnam organise a special guest speaker for the Anzac Day-linked Aussie Rules ‘friendly’ hosted by the Vietnam Swans at the Lord Mayor’s Oval in Vung Tau, Vietnam. It’s called ‘The Middleton Ad- dress’ in honour of Stan Middleton, the Mildura Vietnam Vet and ama- teur historian who provided the Swans with footy history, including photos and details of games that our diggers played in twice-yearly competitions during their tours of duty in Vietnam between 1967 and 1971. It was Stan himself who gave the address at the traditional after- match dinner last year, and this year AFL Legend Alex Jesaulenko is to be the guest speaker and deliver the Middleton Address. The Carlton great, now 68, played 279 games for Carlton and St Kilda from the 1960s to 1980s. The Australian Football Hall of Famer immortalised his reputation by taking the Mark of the Century in the 1970 VFL Grand Final in front of a record 121,696 spectators. Jezza celebrated Carlton pre- mierships in 1968, 1970 and 1972, was premiership captain-coach in 1979, leading goal-kicker for two seasons, captained the Blues for five seasons, is a John Nicholls medallist, former St Kilda captain and coach, made the All-Australian team, AFL Team of the Century and Carlton’s Team of the Century, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996, achieving Legend status in 2008. Stan told the Mildura Weekly that the 2014 match organisers were excitedly looking forward to the talk by Jesaulenko. “I spent a very enjoyable hour with Alex recently,” he said. “He is very excited about his trip to Viet- nam and the footy game, and giving the 2014 ‘Middleton Address.’ I took an extra Swannies shirt over for him to wear, and lent him my Swannies cap to wear as well!” Stan said the Anzac Friendship Matches have a short but proud history, and the games, and after- match functions, are well support- ed by ex-pats, relatives, friends and locals. The historical encounters came about in 2009 when the Vietnam Swans were invited to play in the Thailand Tigers’ Commemorative Anzac Match in Kanchanaburi, near the infamous Thai Burma Railway. The following year the Swans played their inaugural Anzac Friendship Match. Players were di- vided into two teams, and named after previous playing clubs, the Hanoi Hawks and Saigon Saints. “This friendship match was designed to thank our hosts, the Vietnamese Government and its people, for generously welcoming us into their country,” Stan said. “It was also a way to encourage emotionally-wounded people from abroad to return and experience the new world of Vietnam.” He said the highlight was the McMillan dinner, and he was very proud to have the speech at the post-match dinner named in his honour. The dinner itself is named after another Veteran, Kevin McMillan, who did two tours of Vietnam. Kevin returned to Vietnam later in life and, like Stan, married a Vietnamese national. Kevin and another friend, Peter Taylor, played a key role in forming the Vietnam Veterans and Friends Charity, reno- vating a school and raising $40,000 for new toilets and classrooms in Nui Dat. “Unfortunately, Kevin wasn’t able to be at the Inaugural McMil- lan Dinner in 2012,” Stan said. “He was in Australia being treated for cancer. “But the night was filmed, the footage uploaded onto YouTube, and Kev was able to watch it from his hospital bed to his great delight. “He passed away 10 days later, chuffed that the McMillan Dinner had been named in his honour.” Stan and his ex-Digger mates, together with the Vietnam Swans, now use the occasion to raise thou- sands of dollars for Vietnam’s next generation. “Children are the future of Viet- nam,” he said. “With more children dying from drowning than road accidents, money raised will be donated to the Swim Vietnam and Water Safety Vietnam, as well as the Vung Tau Orphanage.” The fund-raising footy match and dinner is being promoted throughout Asia, where there are now 22 registered footy clubs from East Timor in the south to Beijing in the north, and the Philippines in the east to Pakistan in the west. Stan and his wife Sinh have also raised more than $60,000 over the last 10 years through the Vietnam Veteran community to help those Vietnamese and their families who worked at the Australian Base in Vung Tau during the war years. “These are the ones who were unable to escape the country after it fell to the Communists in 1975,” Stan said. “Most of these people have had very difficult lives since 1975. Many, like Sinh, were relocated into the bush in new economic zones under terrible conditions. “These people were extremely good to the Australian Diggers dur- ing their tours in Vung Tau, and this is our way of saying thanks.” Stan is particularly proud of the Melbourne-based ‘Water Safety Vietnam’ project, with he and other former Sunraysia residents main- taining a strong involvement. Supporters include director John Kilpatrick (former Irymple footballer and coach), project man- ager Pam O’Reilly (formerly Pam Cock from Dareton), her husband Colin (former Merbein player), committee person Jan Williams (former Nichols Point teacher) – who spends a lot of time in Vietnam in a training capacity and teaching children – while Stan, who grew up in Cardross and played footy for Irymple, is also on the committee. Stan’s connections with both the Vietnam Veterans and Vietnam- ese community is invaluable to the organisation, as is his wife Sinh’s contribution from a Vietnamese perspective. Another Director is Neil Rob- erts, former St Kilda captain and 1958 Brownlow Medallist. Neil doesn’t have a Sunraysia back- ground, but has visited the region many times with close friend John Kilpatrick! Stan said that all those involved in the Vietnam programs, includ- ing trainers, are volunteers. He said people who would like to donate to the Water Safety Vietnam program can do so by visiting www.water- safetyvietnam.com. Ex-Vietnam diggers like Mildura’s Stan Middleton wanted to give something back to the country where they once served, so they organised some fund-raisers, built orphanages, schools and other projects. Now they’ve got a new support group – the Asian Football League. Arguably the biggest match of the year is the Anzac Friendship match, which supports a lot of these programs. A major part of it is the post-match function and annual address, named in Stan’s honour. As ALAN ERSKINE reports... ‘Jezza’ to give 2014 Middleton Address • BLUES BROTHERS: Mildura’s Stan Middleton (left) was able to catch up with Carlton and AFL Legend Alex Jesaulenko recently to talk about footy – and Vietnam. Alex will give the Stan Middleton Address at the Vietnam Anzac Friendship match this year. 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