The baron of Binh Ba DPR/TV/687

When Warrant Officer Terry Smith, of Mount Druitt, NSW, arrives home from Vietnam tomorrow he leaves behind a lordly title with his Vietnamese friends. A member of the Australian Army Training Team, he was an adviser to a Regional Forces Company near the village of Binh Ba. And it was here he earned the unofficial title, the Baron of Binh Ba. Vietnamese troops and their families regarded the forty one year old soldier as one of their own. It was a sad day when they turned out to farewell him from the tiny jungle village he had helped so much. The troops paraded and their wives brought a touch of colour to the ceremony by placing a garland of exotic flowers around his neck... a Vietnamese custom reserved for highly honoured guests. In his 7 1/2 months at Binh Ba, Warrant Officer Smith had welded the 80-man unit into an efficient fighting force. The troops showed their appreciation by presenting him a letter of commendation from the Province Chief. And a shotgun... the most treasured property of their unit commander. Two Australian advisers arrived as replacements for Warrant Officer Smith and a second adviser, who recently left the area. The men, Warrant Officers Ron Seiler, left of Wagga, NSW, and Bruce Elphick, of Gundagai, NSW, realised they would have a tough job taking over from the Baron. His work did not end in a military role. He had bought and borrowed cement, sand and iron from all over the Province to give his troops and their families comfortable homes to replace their bamboo shacks. He made sure everybody in the village received free medical care - and personally delivered several babies. The Vietnamese not only liked his presence - they advertised it on a wall of one home. There are hundreds of advisers in Vietnam who devote themselves as selflessly to the villagers as Warrant Officer Smith managed. But to the people of this tiny village, there could be only one true Baron of Binh Ba.