The one-of-a-kind war story of the Seymour Lynch family

Ten years prior, Mr Lynch first joined the Royal Australian Air Force, and even before that, he recalls the prominence of the military in his childhood.

“They used to have the Anzac Day service at the Seymour hospital gates,” Mr Lynch said.

“And, when I was in the Scouts and Cubs, we always used to march behind the World War II soldiers.”

When the time came, Mr Lynch left behind his wife and two children for the year of 1970 to serve as an air movements sergeant in Vietnam.

He, however, wasn’t the only Lynch from Seymour in Vietnam.

Three of Mr Lynch’s seven siblings also served in the war, each in different branches, and it is believed that this is unique to their family.

“It’s a bit of a record, I don’t know any other family that was in that situation,” Mr Lynch said.

“Not only were we four out of the one family, but all four of us were there at the same time.

“You get a lot of fathers and sons, and brothers, but with all the records I’ve looked up in Australia and America, I’ve never come across four out of the one family serving, let alone four at the one time for a period, and four of us representing the four branches of the defence force.”

Mr Lynch’s older brother represented the navy, his younger the army, and his sister served as a surgical nurse.

All four of the Lynch siblings are honoured at Seymour’s Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk, a monument that Mr Lynch had significant involvement with, having been part of the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia.

“I took it as far as I could to make sure that our family was recognised in the memorial,” Mr Lynch said.

“I get a great deal of pleasure, not only coming from Seymour, but because Seymour is a military town, and having had that involvement makes a big difference.”

As a result of his family’s deep involvement in the Vietnam War, Mr Lynch knows all too well the long-term impacts many veterans face.

With the Vietnam War specifically, Mr Lynch said many veterans faced difficulties on their return to Australia.

“When we first came back, it wasn’t a popular war, and truly, we weren’t treated very well,” Mr Lynch said.

“It was a political issue.

“But, we service personnel, we didn’t have to like it or dislike it.

“If you’re told to go, you go.”

Mr Lynch said his family was also faced with what were, unfortunately, common effects of war.

“We all struggled, every one of us has some sort of regret, and it does impact on your personal life,” Mr Lynch said.

Of his sister, Mr Lynch said “she suffered badly from her exposure to war”.

“It damaged her life,” he said.

In Vietnam, Mr Lynch and his siblings were exposed to dangerous chemicals, which have led to the development of cancers.

Mr Lynch said his older brother had passed away from cancer, his sister was currently terminal, his younger brother, who was in remission, had become paralysed as a result of the cancer he suffered with, and Mr Lynch himself had also been affected.

Bringing this harmful impact of war to the attention of the country is just one of many advocacy movements Mr Lynch has been involved with as a veteran.

“Unfortunately, cancer is one of the big things that kills Vietnam veterans,” Mr Lynch said.

“We had to fight for years, and I’m talking about years, for it to be recognised as a war service injury.

“They’ve taken it further now, to anyone who serves in the defence forces, because of our exposure to things involved in military training, there are a whole range of cancers that are accepted as being service-related.”

As a founding and state life member of the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia, who has also served as state vice president and state president, Mr Lynch has had the opportunity to advance the mental health support movement for veterans.

“All the mental health work that they’re doing now for veterans, I was part of starting it,” Mr Lynch said.

“We raised our own funds to get a psychiatrist, and eventually, we convinced the government to fund it.”

The service Mr Lynch refers to is now known as Open Arms, and is open to “all veterans and ex-service people, you don’t even have to have war service”.

After over 40 years of involvement with the Vietnam Veterans Association and the RSL, Mr Lynch has taken a step back.

Mr Lynch now resides in Werribee, but still takes time to visit the Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk whenever he is able to travel to Seymour.

“Every time I go there, I always go along the memorial, because I knew a lot of people, not just from Seymour, but a lot of people from the air force, and they’re all listed in the memorial,” Mr Lynch said.

He can also reflect on his family’s unique war story when viewing the names of his siblings etched on the monument.

“I’m very proud of the family contributions,” Mr Lynch said.

“Our family goes down in history now.”