This is a tale of two soldiers.
On April 3, 1967, Peter Burquest enlisted with the Australian army to find some direction in his life.
His girlfriend, Mimi, wanted him to make something of himself and the army seemed to be the right fit.
On April 19, 1967, Rod Quarrell also enlisted but under rather different circumstances.
Mr Quarrell was conscripted to join when his birthday – May 13 – was selected in the draft lottery.
“Any 20-year-old Australia-wide who was born on that day was automatically listed to go into the army,” Mr Quarrell said.
“I got deferred for 12 months, hoping that they might forget me. But they never forgot me – 12 months later, almost to the day, I got a letter calling for me again.”
The pair were among a battalion of 800 sent to fight in the Vietnam War for a year.
It was an eye-opening experience for both men.
Mr Quarrell said he’d never before picked up a rifle.
“It was a wake-up call – and I think the best wake-up call I’ve ever had because I grew up very, very quickly,” he said.
“At 20 years of age, you think you’re king of everything, but you realised you were nothing.”
The pair were lucky to survive the year, including their part in the Battle of Coral, a six-week jungle operation that ended with 26 of their battalion dead and 100 injured.
Apart from enemy fire, the pair had to contend with ants, wasps, ticks and the odd scorpion.
Mr Quarrell left the army straight after Vietnam, while Mr Burquest, who became a lance-corporal, continued to serve.
The two men lost touch with each other. They reconnected in the 1980s when their sons started playing football together.
In recent years they have worked hard to establish the Caroline Springs RSL, which will host an Anzac Day dawn service this Saturday from 5.45am at the Caroline Springs Memorial, on The Parade.
The service will be followed by a gunfire breakfast and a march through the Caroline Springs township.
For details, email carolinespringsrsl@hotmail.com.
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