Douglas Graham MacLennan as a Senior Liaison Officer Civil Affairs Unit interviewed by Greg Swanborough for 'The sharp end'

Scene 37, Take 1: The morning after the battle at Binh Ba the Civil Affairs Unit came in to access the damage. Most of the houses had been severely damaged by tank fire and were uninhabitable. During and after the battle, the villagers were move north to another village until the fighting stopped and their houses were made habitable again. The relocation process was very disruptive and distressful for the people because they had close connections to family and their land, but it was necessary for security reasons. It did aid the Vietcong in winning the hearts of the people because they blamed the Australians for moving them rather then the Vietnamese government. Scene 37, Take 2: The Civil Affairs unit was involved in development projects such as supply of reticulated water using windmills, the construction and maintenance of schools and medical clinics, roads, communications and agricultural projects. ACU felt comfortable being constructive in a very deconstructive situation. Scene 37, Take 3: Told that the Vietcong saw the work of the ACU as benefiting them in the long run, therefore were no real danger to the unit. The Australian and American Military commands considered it more a propaganda exercise than as constructive community development operation. The most vivid memory is of a villager returning to Binh Ba the morning after the battle and finding the body of his daughter who had been crushed by a tank. Scene 37, Take 4 [replace take 1]: The day after the battle at Binh Ba ACU arrived at 8:00 AM to find the village had suffered substantial damage from tank fire. The relocation of the villagers was disruptive and caused a lot of anxiety. This was a good opportunity for the Vietcong to exploit the resentment of the people that resulted from the relocation. Scene 37, Take 5 [replace Take 3]: The most vivid memory of Vietnam was when in Binh Ba the day after the battle we were accessing the damage and a villager found the body of his daughter who’d been crushed by a tank. It emphasised the cost and futility of war. About the false talk of atrocities being committed – they usually have some basis.