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CANBERRA - The remains of an Australian soldier killed during the Vietnam War were returned home to a ceremonial welcome yesterday, 36 years after his helicopter was shot down by enemy fire.
Lance Corporal John Gillespie, a 24-year-old army medic, died on April 17, 1971, when his helicopter crashed and caught ablaze after coming under fire during a medical evacuation in the Minh Dam Mountains of southern Phuoc Tuy province.
"From one soldier to another, I say to Lance Corporal John Gillespie, welcome home mate," said Major-General Richard Wilson of the Australian Defence Force as Gillespie's body was brought home in a flag-draped coffin.
Gillespie's widow, Carmel Hendrie, and daughter, Fiona Pike, who was 2 when her father was killed, were among family members to see the body taken from a military aircraft at an air force base south of Melbourne.
"We're just so happy that he's home on home soil, and that we can go and say hello," Hendrie said.
- Reuters
