Parents trek in honour of fallen sons and Afghanistan wounded

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This was published 9 years ago

Parents trek in honour of fallen sons and Afghanistan wounded

By John Elder

The parents of four soldiers killed in Afghanistan are walking 400 kilometres along a remote Northern Territory road to the Robertson Barracks in Darwin to raise awareness and funds for wounded veterans. The idea is to walk 10 kilometres for each of the 40 soldiers killed in action.

The organiser of the walk, Ray Palmer, 55, from Katherine, says there are more than 250 men and women still suffering with their physical and mental wounds from the war. ''And there are still 400 members still serving in Afghanistan that people don't seem to know about,'' he says.

Walking for veterans: Kate and Ray Palmer, Rob Moreland, Anica Beckett and Lorrae Blackmore.

Walking for veterans: Kate and Ray Palmer, Rob Moreland, Anica Beckett and Lorrae Blackmore.Credit: Glenn Campbell

In a quieter voice he says: ''And we musn't forget those who have fallen.''

Mr Palmer's son Scott, 27, was one of three commandos killed in a helicopter crash in Kandahar province in 2010. In the lead-up to Anzac Day - which tends to focus on Gallipoli and World War I, an event where all participants are now gone - Mr Palmer hopes the public would ''remember and think about'' the lives lost in Afghanistan, as they weren't likely to be a focus of the media coverage.

''Men and boys like my son Scott served in Timor and Iraq and did multiple tours of Afghanistan and I don't think the public is aware of that,'' he says.

About 20 people were walking from Mataranka, near the Roper River, on Saturday. Among them were Sam Duffy, sister to Captain Bryce Duffy, and Linda Birt, mother of Corporal Ashley Birt. Duffy and Birt were two of the three Australian solders shot dead by a rogue Afghan national who opened fire on Australian troops at their base at Tarin Kowt in 2011. Also walking are Rob Moreland, father of Sapper Jacob ''Snowy'' Moreland who, along with Sapper Darren Smith, were killed when an insurgent improvised explosive device (IED) detonated during an operation on June 7, 2010.

Another walker is Jenny Poate, mother of Private Robert Poate, one of three Australian soldiers killed by a rogue Afghan national sergeant. The men died while relaxing at a patrol base 20 kilometres north of the main Australian base at Tarin Kowt.

Mr Palmer says the walking party will be raising funds at a series of barbecues being held along the route to Darwin. The money will be used to take wounded Afghanistan veterans on a healing trek of the Kokoda Track.

''I'm carrying Scott's wrist band,'' Mr Palmer says. ''You wear it on the right hand in remembrance of your son. They're made of aluminium. The units get them made up.''

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