A COMMUNITY honour has recently been awarded to Vietnam War veteran Bob Wakelin.
The well-known Beachport identity has been named as the Australia Day citizen of the year for Wattle Range Council’s Kintore Ward.
Although Mr Wakelin is not yet aware of why he has been given this award, councillors were obviously impressed by his service in uniform to the nation and as an honorary groundsman and caretaker of a parking bay near his home.
He was born at the Thyne Memorial Hospital in Millicent on July 24, 1946 and he was the second-born in a family of four boys and one girl.
After completing Year 11 at Millicent High School, the remainder of his teenage years were spent in outdoors work.
Mr Wakelin was first employed by the State Government, but his life changed remarkably in 1966 when he was conscripted for two years of national service with the army.
“There was nothing you could do about it,” Mr Wakelin said.
The first 12 months were devoted to training at Puckapunyal, Singleton and Woodside and then his unit sailed to Vietnam aboard the aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney.
His year-long tour of duty in 1967/68 was served as a Lance Corporal with A Company 3rd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR).
“I was a rifleman and in charge of eight men,” he said.
“We were regularly under fire.
“The only other soldier from Millicent in Vietnam at that time was Bob Evans and his unit was nearby.”
In 2018, Mr Wakelin travelled to Canberra to accept a citation from the Federal Government which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Coral-Balmoral.
The citation took the form of a small rectangular bar which the 73-year-old can wear above his service medals.
As a proud member of the RSL, Mr Wakelin takes part in the Anzac Day dawn service in Beachport each year as well as the mid-morning march and service in Millicent.
When his period of compulsory service ended, Mr Wakelin decided not to stay in the Army.
“12 months in Vietnam was long enough,” he said.
For the next 40 years of his working life, Mr Wakelin spent most of it outdoors.
The exception was a five-year stint at the Kimberly-Clark Australia Millicent Mill.
He delivered fuel to local farms and had lengthy stints as a deckhand and skipper of professional lobster boats.
At one stage, Mr Wakelin had his own lobster boat and professional lobster licence but voluntarily left the industry in the 1980s as part of the government-sponsored buy-back scheme.
His last job ahead of retirement around a decade ago was as a deckhand for Southend-based professional fisherman Garry Nilsson.
Nowadays, home for Mr Wakelin is a rural property he shares with his son Sean and his family.
Nearby, is the parking bay dubbed by many locals as “Wakelin Park”.
As a pastime for many years Mr Wakelin collects rubbish and mows the grass every week.
Looking back over the past 73 years, Mr Wakelin feels he has lived a fortunate life with only a few items on his “bucket list”.
“I have been pretty lucky and there are still a few places I want to go in my campervan.”
The Australia Day community celebrations be held on Sunday, January 26, but the public holiday will be observed on the following Monday.
Barbecue breakfasts will be held Beachport Lagoon Reserve, Kalangadoo’s Riddoch Memorial Institute, Millicent’s Jubilee Park and the Penola War Memorial Park from 8am.
The formal Australia Day presentations will be made by council representatives at 9am.
