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Vietnam
vets rally to help 'sick' Jack
Exclusive By John
Flint
The Sunday
Times, 5 September 2004
Jack van Tongeren
claims he wants to turn his back on the Australian Nationalists
Movement and his racist past.
From Hakea Prison
he has confided to Vietnam veterans that he has had enough of
extreme right-wing politics and wants "a quiet life".
The veterans, who
served alongside van Tongeren in the 2nd Battalion Royal
Australian Regiments, have offered to help their former colleague
if he is genuine about changing his life.
His confidants
also believe his protestations of innocence over recent racist
graffiti attacks - but say they will dump him if they are
persuaded by police evidence.
Because the ANM
leader has been declined Legal Aid, they will raise money for his
defence costs. Van Tongeren has been charged with 18 counts
of criminal damage and four of conspiring to commit arson.
Meanwhile, the
Returned & Services League is assisting van Tongeren to apply to
the Department of Veterans' Affairs for a Totally and Permanently
Incapacitated pension (T&PI). Van Tongeren now accepts that he
suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after being in combat
in Vietnam.
While not seeking
to justify van Tongeren's past behaviour, former soldier Norm
Heslington believes the psychiatric disorder explains some of van
Tongeren's attitude.
Van Tongeren was
reacquainted with some of his Vietnam mates when he participated
in Perth Anzac Day parade in April. He joined them for a meal
afterwards - and they purposely chose a Chinese restaurant.
Mr Heslington
said: "We made him eat lunch there and he was fine with it. I
wanted to show Jack that we don't hate Asians."
Mr Heslington has
visited van Tongeren in prison about six times and he is due to
see him again today.
"He told me he
wanted to forget about politics and changing the world," Mr
Heslington said. "He wants to go to Queensland, where he has
family and enjoy what little of life that he's got left. I told
Jack that the boys were prepared to help raise some money for him
but we said: 'If you go back to your right-wing views, you won't
have to worry about the police because we will come looking for
you - we will want our money back.' Jack did not ring me up and
ask me to go and visit him. I just went to see him. He is very
bewildered and cannot understand what is happening. He feels that
people said things to lessen their own sentences. He freely
admits his guilt to his past crimes. He has done the time for his
crimes - thirteen Christmases in the can. But he insists he is
innocent of the latest charges. If we thought Jack had done
anything this time, we wouldn't be visiting or having anything to
do with him. I stress we don't support any right-wing views. Jack
van Tongeren was a good soldier. He never abuse or did anything
untoward to enemy soldiers. He saw plenty of action over there
and nearly everybody that Jack served with now is (totally and
permanently incapacitated) from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Jack came back from Vietnam with all the classic symptoms (of
post-traumatic stress); Absolute contempt for people in authority
and a sense of betrayal by his government."
Mr Heslington
believes van Tongeren's racist views may have grown out of the
propaganda fed to troops before they were sent to Vietnam. "They
tried to demonise the enemy," he said. "Jack believed all
that crap back then. Most of us were national servicemen and we
didn't. I don't think the propaganda ever left him. I think he
came home and decided to soldier on."
Mr Heslington had
his own run-ins with authorities in the 1980s as a notorious
street stall trader, who regularly clashed with Perth City
Council. Yesterday RSL president Bill Gaynor said that although
van Tongeren was not a member, it had an obligation under its
charter to help him.
"We don't believe
that what Jack has done in the past is the right thing, but if he
has some entitlements (to a pension) we will assist him with the
documentation that he must submit to the Department of Veterans
Affairs," he said.
Jack's latest
Letter
Jack van Tongeren
Hakea Prison
Locked Bag 111
Canningvale 6970
Australia
14 September 2004 CE
Greetings Fred
Thank you for your welcome letter of
3/9/04. I trust that all is well with you and your people over
there. Keep your chin up and hang in there. keep up the good work
in the campaign for the triumph of truth. You are doing well.
Well, yesterday I had a bit of a win
in the court, and another win to do with pressure from the RSL -
Returned & Services League - Legal Aid was finally granted ...
after the 'powers that be' refused it. The first win was to stop
the Director of Public Prosecutions' attempt to have John and I
jailed for 220 YEARS by getting the trivial graffiti charges
(yes, they charged John and I for a heap of graffiti WHICH WE DID
NOT DO) intop the higher District Court - it gives one a
better idea of the powerful people involved in jailing me. They
are also utterly corrupt and prepared to go to any lengths, legal
AND ILLEGAL ( they assume they will never be caught) to jail John
and I for a long time.
I note in your first letter, 17/8,
where you also did the good write-up about The ANN Story,
and posted that on your website, you mentioned Zundel's
situation in solitary. Well, right now I am officially "remanded
in custody". This is reality in being JAILED WITHOUT TRIAL.
And while one is locked up you cannot do a damned thing for your
defence in a future trial - THAT IS WHY THE COPS STOP BAIL. Your
trial, if you get one, rather than give in to the threats and
pressure and plead guilty, will NOT be fair and you will be
convicted. BRITISH Justice? in action. (And yes, this is one of
the many issues I fully intended to raise as a Senator in Federal
Parliament!)
Now there is a lot more about this
British legal system that is just plain STEALING & POLICE STATE
OPPRESSION, not to mention the constant degradation of strip
searching; and in my case I am 'paraded' in the court SHACKLED &
CHAINED HAND AND FOOT LIKE SOME SORT OF SAVAGE WILD BEAST!
Forget all that 'innocent until
proven guilty' business, once bail is refused YOU ARE A PRISONER.
All prisoners must work; otherwise
jail becomes a lot harder. YOUR LABOUR IS STOLEN! Of
course, you are paid a pittance. So now I am working in the
laundry, BORING AS HELL, for the working week. And forget about
being able to 'gte away from the madhouse' by utilising the
solitude of a cell - THERE IS NO SOLITUDE WHEN YOU MUST SHARE
THAT TINY AREA WITH SOMEONE ELSE 24 hours a day!
Instead of getting some sort of
chance to ease the stress, YOU GET EVEN MORE STRESSED AS YOU
RESIST THE GROWING URGE TO PHYSICALLY LASH OUT AT THE OTHER
FELLOW WHO IS INVADING YOUR PRIVATE SPACE! It's not his fault- he
just happens to be there.
Unlike Zundel I do not have 'a home
within the mind', I simply recognise the evil vicious
reality of this Police State tyranny.
No, I am not going to write another
book either. The reasons are quite basic, of course. First off, I
am NOT a writer. A writer can make every day boring mere
existence seem interesting, I cannot, and have no interest in
doing that. With The ANM Story it was easy. I simply
chronicled dramatic events that changed the course of Australian
history. People take notice of dramatic events that take their
minds off their boring lives. There is nothing dramatic and
exciting about trying to describe the abuse of Police & Judicial
authority. It just bores people. I have seen this many times
already. This is one of the reasons why
Police/Judicial/Parliamentary corruption can continue. Therefore
I am not going to bother with another book.
On the subject of The ANM Story,
I would like to point out that there is a BIG difference between
Bush & I regarding the attack we did just before the State
election in 1989. That action was just a publicity stunt, nobody
was hurt and it was my house - there is no law against smashing
up your own house. But the CRUCIAL difference is that UNLIKE
Bush, we had no sinister actions like stealing Iraq's oil planned
to follow on from that action.
In my last letter I asked for the
ABC's Phillip Adams' address. If you can get it, could you send
it to me, along with Senator Stott-Despoja's address.
Thanks mate.
Over here in WA a lot, I mean a LOT
of thinking people know that I am innocent and have become the
victim of Parliamentary , Police and Judicial abuse of authority
PRECISELY TO JAIL ME WHILE THE FEDERAL & STATE elections are on.
You are correct, in the fullness of time this truth will become
commonly known. When that will be and what effects it will have
on this Zionist system I do not know. What I do know is that now
my life is ruined, I am 56 and broke and in jail.
Anyway Fred, all the best for now.
Yours for Australia.
Jack van Tongeren
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