Victorian Veterans Council’s Peter Swandale, RSL Victoria president Rob Webster, Vietnam veteran Peter Dore, podcaster Fiona Gruber, Vietnam Veterans Association Australia Mitchell president John Phoenix, podcast participants Carolynne Burgess-Blackwell and John Blackwell and Glaas Inc president Bronwyn Hughes.
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On March 28, members of the community came together to celebrate the launch of the podcast A Memory In Light.
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About 50 people filled the Seymour RSL Sub-Branch to listen to presentations from those involved, and to the podcast itself.
A Memory In Light was scripted and produced by Fiona Gruber on behalf of Glaas Inc, a not-for-profit dedicated to progressing the use of glass in art and architecture.
The 30-minute podcast delves in to the history of famed Seymour monument the Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk and features local participants such as Carolynne Burgess-Blackwell, John Blackwell, Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia Mitchell president John Phoenix and Vietnam veteran Peter Dore.
Ms Gruber covers the funding of the monument; the committee involved in helping to draft its design; the input from locals, who provided more than 1000 images for consideration; the storyboard development; and the need for veterans to discuss their experiences.
Ms Gruber first came about the monument by chance on an unrelated visit to Seymour.
“I don’t go out of my way to find war memorials,” she said.
“But I saw this and I thought it was really moving and ambitious.
“It’s a really important monument, it’s fantastically made and it’s telling a story about people who are still alive.
“It’s an historical monument, but it’s also a living monument.”
The podcast also features an interview with a South Vietnamese Navy veteran who migrated to Australia after the war and a descendant of a North Vietnamese migrant family.
By providing a diverse range of speakers, Ms Gruber said her intention was to create a story telling a number of different sides.
“It doesn’t just assume people are on the same side,” she said.
“It shows that you may not be in agreement, but you can still get along; some people are pro war and some are against it.
“It’s a complex story about how you memorialise war.”
Attendees were attentive to the presentations made during the podcast launch.
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Among the attendees were members of the original steering committee responsible for the design of the monument, Victorian Veterans Council executive committee member Peter Swandale, Mitchell Shire Mayor John Dougall, RSL Victoria president Rob Webster and those involved in the production of the podcast.
Seymour RSL Sub-Branch president Matt McLaughlin said the podcast raised strong themes. He recommended veteran counselling service Open Arms to any listeners who may need to discuss feelings brought about by these themes.
Podcast project manager Lynne Dore said attendees were very receptive to the podcast.
“The audience were very attentive to the presentation and were complimentary of the project,” Ms Dore said.
Ms Gruber said community members seemed delighted with how the podcast turned out.
“Several people came up to me afterwards and said how they found it moving, how it brought issues alive,” she said.
“Several people said they felt like they were back there.
“There was never any doubt in my mind that this was a story I wanted to tell.”
The podcast was made with the support of a Victoria Remembers grant.
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