By John Skinner
Many of Warwick’s veterans of the Vietnam War paraded at the Warwick War Graves on thursday 3 August to honour one of their own.
The gathering was to pay respects to Lionel James Baxter who was killed in action in Vietnam in 1965.
Lance Corporal Baxter is the only soldier killed in Vietnam who is buried in Warwick while two other Warwick men, Ronald James ‘Butch’ Swanton and Thomas Suter, also killed in action, are both buried in Brisbane.
Vietnam veterans all around Australia paid their respects to all those killed in action in Vietnam in a co-ordinated program titled the Vietnam Veterans Vigil which included those graves of Australian men in Malaysia who were not repatriated to Australia.
The Vigil at the Warwick War Graves was also attended by veterans of other wars who also wished to pay their respects and one special guest was Mrs Jeannie Baxter, wife of Lionel Baxter’s brother, Gordon, who was unable to attend due to health issues.
The program was drawn up at the Vietnam Veterans Museum in Victoria and was virtually the same wherever the Vigil was held. It started with the National Anthem and continued with a short presentation following which the 23rd Psalm was read, the Ode was recited, the bugle tunes, the Last Post and Rouse were played and the well-known Vietnam-era song by Redgum, ‘I was only 19’ bought the service to a close.
Warwick born and raised veteran Robin Farrell, who knew Lionel Baxter as a teenager, said the deceased would have felt very honoured by the Vigil which was a credit to the organisers.
A photo from the Warwick turnout is to be sent to the Vietnam Veteran’s War Memorial and will be displayed along with photos from all those graves attended on Thursday.
