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Speaker 1: It is fourteen minutes away from ten o'clock and as

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Speaker 1: we know, at eleven a m. On the eleventh of

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Speaker 1: November nineteen eighteen, the guns on the Western Front fell silent.

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Speaker 1: After more than four years of continuous warfare, the Allied

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Speaker 1: armies had driven the German invaders back, having inflicted heavy

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Speaker 1: defeats upon them over the preceding four months. In November,

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Speaker 1: the Germans called for an armistice, the suspension of fighting,

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Speaker 1: in order to secure a peace settlement. They accepted Allied

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Speaker 1: terms that amounted to unconditional surrender. The eleventh hour of

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Speaker 1: the eleventh day of the eleventh month attained a special

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Speaker 1: significance in the post war years. The moment when hostilities

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Speaker 1: ceased on the Western Front became universally associated with the

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Speaker 1: remembrance of those who had died in the war. The

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Speaker 1: Allied nations chose this day and time for the commemoration

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Speaker 1: of their war dead. Today, as we know, is Remembrance Day,

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Speaker 1: and this morning I'm joined by a very special guest,

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Speaker 1: Territorian Ray Palmer, the father of fallen Commando Scott Palmer.

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Speaker 1: Good morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Ray, Good Mary, Katie, How are you very well?

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Speaker 1: Mate?

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Speaker 2: Oh?

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Speaker 1: Thank you? So much for joining me this morning. Now, Ray,

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Speaker 1: I understand that Scott was a proud and devoted soldier

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Speaker 1: who loves serving with his mates of the second Commando Regiment.

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Speaker 1: Can you tell me a little bit more about your son?

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Speaker 2: Look? He oh, Look, he was very in the playing

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Speaker 2: sports like most most young blakes around the time, and

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Speaker 2: and he enjoyed the outdoors. And and I'm I'm sort

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Speaker 2: of very proud on what he did achieve before joining

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Speaker 2: the army, but I'm very proud of what he did

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Speaker 2: through his military career as well. Mate.

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Speaker 1: I looked, I looked at his profile, and I what

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Speaker 1: he is certainly a very decorated young man as well.

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Speaker 1: Tell us a little bit about how he served and

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Speaker 1: some of the different things that he's done.

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Speaker 2: Look at I think it's like most of that turbulent

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Speaker 2: sort of time when we were involved with like operations

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Speaker 2: in Team or were operations in Iraq, and then of course,

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Speaker 2: you know, we also had the operations in Afghanistan. So

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Speaker 2: around that time, a lot of soldiers did a lot

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Speaker 2: of hard work and were deployed most of their career,

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Speaker 2: which would be extremely hard because the amount of time

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Speaker 2: that they had just spent away from home and being

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Speaker 2: able to do the things I enjoyed.

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Speaker 1: And what was it like for you and your wife

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Speaker 1: obviously having him so far away and being deployed at

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Speaker 1: different times.

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Speaker 2: Well, the good thing about technology today is what you

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Speaker 2: call sat fame and the good part about Scott and

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Speaker 2: I was thinking a find that most of the young

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Speaker 2: blades that went there away, they had the opportunity to

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Speaker 2: get on the phone, ring home, have a chat about

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Speaker 2: sport or whatever was sort of going on in the

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Speaker 2: community at home, and which I think was really good

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Speaker 2: because if you go back back to the First World War,

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Speaker 2: or you go back to the Boll War and things

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Speaker 2: like that, it's all done by mail. Male used to

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Speaker 2: go by ship, which could take forever. So thanks to

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Speaker 2: technology we had a great rapport with him and he

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Speaker 2: ring very regularly. So it was in that respect it

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Speaker 2: was a lot better because when the phone did ring

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Speaker 2: and you were talking to him, it was actually voice

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Speaker 2: to voice and not something in a letter, you know

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Speaker 2: what I mean. So it was great. No, it's terrific.

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Speaker 1: And Ray, I can't imagine what it was like for

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Speaker 1: you when you got that phone call finding out that

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Speaker 1: your son's life had been lost. It I mean it

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Speaker 1: must have been absolutely heart wrenching for you and your family.

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Speaker 2: The head you say it. The thing was, he was

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Speaker 2: he was on his last his same mission, and he

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Speaker 2: was due to come home, so he only had two

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Speaker 2: weeks left. So when he rang that Saturday night before

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Speaker 2: his last mission, he sort of from all the deployments

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Speaker 2: that he had done. And then you realize and he's

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Speaker 2: on his way home, you feel at ease. So it

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Speaker 2: came at a big shot when on the Monday afternoon

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Speaker 2: we got the phone call to get home because we

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Speaker 2: were being announced the Scott's death. So children on Saturday

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Speaker 2: night in a space of a very short period of time.

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Speaker 2: It took the wind out of ourselves. So I can

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Speaker 2: assure you we did not expect it because we said, oh,

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Speaker 2: he's only got one last task to do and they're

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Speaker 2: on the way home. So unfortunately that didn't quite happened.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, definitely took the wind of ourself, of them.

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Speaker 1: And to hear you, oh, mate, I can't even I

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Speaker 1: can't even imagine, And I know that everybody listening this

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Speaker 1: morning would feel exactly the same. Ray. I know that

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Speaker 1: so much as has happened in the time since since

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Speaker 1: your son has passed, and so much support from the community,

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Speaker 1: particularly in Catherine as well.

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Speaker 2: Oh look, we can't complain about the support we've had

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Speaker 2: in Darwin, or the support we've had in Katine, and

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Speaker 2: especially the support we've had from the military, especially first

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Speaker 2: Brigade up here. I was having seen last night with

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Speaker 2: as Conburn Burgade Commander's leaving and I thanked him from

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Speaker 2: the bottom of our hearts because they've made us so welcome,

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Speaker 2: and it's a tremendous thing, searing. Scott's served up here

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Speaker 2: with five seven Area and deployed to tim Or and

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Speaker 2: Iraq with five seven, so he's got a he's sort

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Speaker 2: of got a bond here, and we've got a bond

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Speaker 2: here with Robinson Barrett. So it's been tremendous. I cannot

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Speaker 2: fault them one way at all. It's been great.

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Speaker 1: Right, How important is a day like Remembrance Day for

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Speaker 1: you and your family?

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Speaker 2: It's a day mainly to remember or all of those

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Speaker 2: fallen and their families and once they reflect back on

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Speaker 2: you know, Scott doing that chopper crash and with five

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Speaker 2: others injured, to look at the injuries that they sustained

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Speaker 2: in that chopper crash, and just to think about not

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Speaker 2: their physical but also the mental anguish what they were

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Speaker 2: going through. And so today reflects on Pam and I

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Speaker 2: is yes, to reflect on those fallen throughout all conflicts,

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Speaker 2: going back to the bare wall. You know, it's a

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Speaker 2: day of reflection on that, but it's also a day

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Speaker 2: of reflection on the sacrifice the family and those other

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Speaker 2: soldiers are going through. Even though we're not in Afghanistan anymore,

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Speaker 2: they're still suffering with mental illnesses, just like what happened

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Speaker 2: in Vietnam. So that's what our reflection on today is. Yes,

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Speaker 2: remember Scott, but remember everybody. There's words families that are

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Speaker 2: suffering this children and suffer because they lost their dads.

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Speaker 2: So it's a day just to pause them to think

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Speaker 2: and to think.

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Speaker 1: It might certainly is what are you going to be

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Speaker 1: doing today to remember your son and obviously all of

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Speaker 1: those other servicemen and women who've been lost, but also

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Speaker 1: like you'd said, those who've served their time.

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Speaker 2: Well, we're going to the ceremony in Palmerston. As you know,

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Speaker 2: last year is all caught off and last year would

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Speaker 2: have been the tenth anniversary when we would have been

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Speaker 2: in camera having his name revealed on the honor roll

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Speaker 2: with all those other fallen so and then after that

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Speaker 2: it's off the cemetery and have a quiet be with him.

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Speaker 2: So that that's their intentions today. Right.

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Speaker 1: Have you had the chance to go to Canberra, I'm

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Speaker 1: assuming not, but see his name on that on a roll.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we were down there when it was first put on,

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Speaker 2: and that twenty ten and we've been back on four

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Speaker 2: or five occasions since so and it's it's a remarkable

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Speaker 2: thing when you walk down both sides of that gallery

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Speaker 2: just to look at the names, you just put you

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Speaker 2: in a whole perspective of the losses that a stranger

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Speaker 2: have sacrifice. It just you know, and even to have

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Speaker 2: a looked. Finally, you know, a few years ago they

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Speaker 2: put up the Vietnam on a roll, which I think

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Speaker 2: is a totally appropriate because because we're the team or

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Speaker 2: which is peacekeeping, there's definitely the reflect on all conflicts.

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Speaker 2: It's not just war, but all conflicts. And you can't

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Speaker 2: get like the Federal Police is also involved in a

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Speaker 2: lot of these conflicts for peacekeeping and things like that.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, it's a good good place to visit and

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Speaker 2: Pamero unfortunately having me able to go down because of

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Speaker 2: our COVID situation. Well hopefully that might change next year.

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Speaker 1: Well, Ray, I really appreciate your time this morning and

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Speaker 1: having a chat to us. Thank you for speaking to us,

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Speaker 1: and thank you you know for the work or for

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Speaker 1: the service of your son, and for all of those

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Speaker 1: who have served Australia, served our great country. So I

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Speaker 1: really appreciate it, and I appreciate you speaking to me today.

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Speaker 2: No, it's my pleasure, Katie, and thank you very much

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Speaker 2: for giving me your time. I really appreciate it.

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Speaker 1: You are always welcome Ray, and always welcome on my show.

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Speaker 1: Thank you mate, Thank you