Grati-Tuesday 13th August 2024

Written by AHQ

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13 August 2024

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Happy Tuesday Friends!

Another short blog this week with beautiful messages, so grab a cuppa, sit back and relax while you soak up some well deserved gratitude.

Only 73 sleeps away until the Thank You dinner.

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Dear Bridget R,

The Aussie Hero quilt has arrived safe and sound and was presented to me by a very good mate. He was initially a navigator but re-categorised to be a pilot; We first met when I sent him on a night solo in a CT/4 Air Trainer in 1987 and we ended up on F-111 conversion course together. The quilt was given to me at our local golf club after we’d finished a round with a few other desperate old Raafies. It now hangs in my study and gives me great pleasure to reminisce on 40 plus years of military tourism ( I snuck in another 8 years as a Reservist after my permanent Air Force time).

I don’t know how much you know about me but my wife was a long serving Air Force officer (some 34 years) who was an Air traffic Controller (ATC). Our daughter also an ATC, is finishing her 5^th year in the NT. She is partnered up with a nice man who is a policeman who we quite like; they plan on staying up there for a few more years at this stage. Her partner is hoping to get into the tactical response group which would make him a great asset and very attractive to the AFP.

I don’t know how interested your son would be in the Air Force but I would happily put him in touch with my daughter in the first instance to talk about life in the service!. She’s turning 30 soon I am sure we could find younger people who he would relate to better. There are plenty of technical ground crew opportunities where our people look after airframes, armaments, electronics, safety equipment etc etc.

A very sincere ‘thank you’ for your efforts and being a patriotic Australian.

Regards,

Quilt by Bridget R, Embroideries by Inge C

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Good afternoon Kirsten (Bindy) O,

I would like to send a warm and heartfelt thank you for the amazing work and effort you put into the quilt I received today. It is the most beautiful thing I have ever received and will be used/displayed in my home with pride. I have already messaged all my family about it!!!!

Thank for your sharing your story and for your service, wow 27yrs that is outstanding. I can only imagine the journey you had with your role with working with survivors of Defence Abuse, I hope you have a well-established support network around you. I share your passion to live as a good human, we are kindred spirits that way. Often people don’t understand the energy it takes to be negative.

Thank you again for your time and love you put into the quilt.

Regards,

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Hello Jacqui D,

Firstly, thank you very much for my quilt and laundry bag. They’re amazing! I’m glad my request was a good fit, I couldn’t really think of anything specific at the time, and I figured that the experts would likely be able to make a far better quilt/bag with a blank canvas than I could possibly imagine by myself. Clearly I was right.

I am yet to get married or have children. I’m not sure how similar the lifestyle in the other branches compare to the Navy, but it turns out that most ladies don’t particularly like it when you spend 6 to 9 months of the year away from home, going between far flung exotic locations. Who would have known. It sounds like your son and grandchildren have had better fortunes in the Army and RAAF!

The Mid North Coast sounds lovely. I don’t think I’ve ever driven up that far before, but I have certainly sailed past plenty of times. Whilst I was born in NSW, I grew up in Nottingham UK until I was 17, but my Dad has lived in Sydney for many years, so I have spent most of my time there. Though before I left for Bahrain, I was posted to a ship in Cairns for 2 years, where I got very used to the laid back lifestyle and weather. So I’m not sure how much I’m going to enjoy returning to the hustle and bustle of Sydney in a few months.

It’s usually 40+ degrees every day in Bahrain currently. Everyone back in Australia has said the weather has been rubbish and that 40 degrees sounds good, but I have to assure them that its actually quite unpleasant. Especially in uniform when you have to walk around. The coldest it gets is about 35 degrees, at 4am, and it won’t start to ease off until October. Otherwise, Bahrain is interesting enough, I can’t complain, but I wouldn’t recommend it for a holiday.

There was quite a lot of us for the first half the year, but we are down to only a few now.

Thank you again, I really appreciate your handiwork!

Kind regards,

The members design request was Surprise Me!

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Hi Marilyn S, Jenny D and Friends of AHQ,

I got home two weeks ago from OP Manitou in Bahrain, where we were working from the US NAVY 5th Fleet Base called NSA.

My wife, is an Australian Public Servant (APS) and was deployed to Dubai at Al Mihad Base. She was away roughly the same time Mar to Aug, while I was in Bahrain Jan to Jul. She too received her quilt in theatre and was so pleased with it.

I, however waited until yesterday to open my two parcels, laundry bag and quilt, with her and I was so pleased I sent photos to “Dutchie and the Boyz” along with many friends and family.

“Dutchie and the Boyz” was a joke, as the predeployment training was in Halifax Canada, and we all hit Europe for our mid tour breaks with our significant others. We think it was very nearly “a world tour” when we add up all the places we have passed though because of this deployment. We were so fortunate to get this once in a lifetime experience.

Luckily my wife got to join me in Italy for a few days in Rome and a Mediteranian cruise, but it nearly didn’t happen as I had to ask to delay my leave and marry up with her leave timing.

My son was with 8/9 snippers and reconnaissance Army and is the one who suggested I join when I was about 52. His wife is an Army medic, and they have just had their third child, so they are making me look older than I feel! At first, I didn’t think ADF were serious because the recruiting took a while, but certainly I was, and eventually I joined in 2019.

Thank you for the wonderful work you all do at Oz Heros, it is appreciated and makes a difference.

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Until next week keep your letters, emails and photos coming in.

Tuesday’s would be so totally boring without them!

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