Footscray RSL vice-president John Arnold and president Long Nguyen are trying to get the RSL back to its glory days. 70750 Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKI
By Charlene Gatt
JOHN Arnold and Long Nguyen have seen their fair share of battles during their extensive military careers.
Now the pair is involved in a different kind of battle – to get the Footscray RSL back to its former glory.
Mr Nguyen, the new president of the RSL and his deputy Mr Arnold share a determination to boost member numbers.
Footscray RSL has run for more than 100 years and boasted more than 1400 members in its heyday. It now has around 120 members.
Mr Nguyen and Mr Arnold are both keen to attract younger veterans to the RSL, including those that have served in Iraq and East Timor.
Its older members are slowly dying off, with five ageing veterans dying this year alone.
“We don’t have the glitz of the pokies anymore, so we’re trying to concentrate on the old-fashioned comfort of an RSL – where you can come in, watch the footy and have a beer,” Mr Arnold said.
Mr Nguyen has established a computer training program for senior citizens and karaoke.
The TV is switched on to the footy on Saturdays and plans for bingo afternoons are on the cards.
Keeping the pair in check is RSL secretary Joan Uhr-Henry, who has been involved with Footscray for over 30 years.
“People used to come here from everywhere…we’d be up dancing all night,” she remembered.
Mr Nguyen and Mr Arnold are no strangers to conflict.
Mr Nguyen served in the navy of the former South Vietnamese military forces from 1968 until the surrender in 1975.
In December 1982, he and his brothers escaped from Vietnam and landed at the refugee transit camp at Kuku, and then were transported to the Galang Camp in Indonesia.
He arrived in Australia in 1983 and has been very active in the Vietnamese Veterans Association of Victoria.
Mr Arnold served in Vietnam with the First Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment from June 1965 to June 1966, when the battalion group was assigned as the third infantry group of the famous American unit, the 173rd Airborne Brigade.
He was then transferred to the Military Police and served in Malaysia for two years before returning to Vietnam in 1971-’72.
