AUSTRALIAN field ambulance corporal George Prolongeau says he only started to talk about war when the son of his former sergeant sought him out. The son wanted to learn about his father, who had died when he was a young boy.
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Mr Prolongeau, now 101 years old, said that visit reminded how close he was to the men in his unit and so, he has started to reflect more.
The World War II veteran joined fellow servicemen and women and young cadets in Skipton Street Uniting Church’s Anzac Day commemoration service on Sunday.
Baptist minister Keith Lanyon, an Air Force chaplain who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, led the service.
Reverend Lanyon told The Courier this was an important time for the national memory and ensuring we reflect with the right dialogue.
“Rather than we win, we lose wars, we need to be talking about how to avoid the costs and causes as well as the heroism and sacrifices,” Rev Lanyon said.
“These young men and women went overseas and gave so much. Things are very different now in war, but not as much in terms of what they give.”
Mr Prolongeau was conscripted but, as a devout Christian man, asked for a non-combatant role. He started in the kitchens but was soon deployed to Papua New Guinea.
It was 4am in Bougainville when Mr Prolongeau learned the war had ended. This came as he served 15 consecutive weeks in jungle warfare.
Mr Prolongeau, a keen writer, said the army gave him a chance to better himself like a correspondence course via University of Melbourne. While always keen to further his studies in health, Mr Prolongeau did not have the money or secondary school qualifications to do so.
He became one of the first in Ballarat to go to a civilian ambulance school
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