Barry Heard

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Barry Heard is an Australian author who writes both fiction and non-fiction works. Barry served in the Australian Army as a radio operator during the Vietnam War in 1967. Barry has gone on to publish many texts including The Operators, Well Done Those Men and The View From Connors Hill.

Barry Heard was born in January 1945 in Ringwood, Victoria. At the age of 9 Barry and his family moved to the country town of Swifts Creek in the Tambo Valley.

Due to the National Service Act Of 1964 Barry was required to enrole for National Service, which he was selected for in 1966. Due to a case of Rubella he failed the medical examination, however later that year after he recovered he was called up again and attended Recruit Training at Puckapunyal. Following several months of infantry training Barry was absorbed into A Company, 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment and was sent as part of an advance party to Vietnam to acclimatise to war with 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment who were close to completing their tour of duty. During Barry's time in Vietnam from April-October 1967. he was engaged in multiple large-scale military operations including the Operation Ballarat ad the subsequent Battle of Suoi Chau Pha on the 6th August 1967

Barry's life following the Vietnam War is described as very turbulent, with Barry unable to settle down. Within only a few years of his return to Australia Barry had been employed at several different venues and had moved from Swifts Creek to Melbourne to attend the Royal Melbourne Institute for Technology in order to earn a degree in agriculture. Due to undiagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Barry now found it difficult to socialise and had isolated himself from former friends and his girlfriend of four years in Swifts Creek. In the years following his return Barry became a workaholic and would engage in any project that would exhaust him and allow him to sleep. Regardless, Barry suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder induced nightmares for much of his life prior to a breakdown in the early 1990s and subsequent admission to the Austin Hospital, Melbourne for treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Following his time at the Austin Hospital, Melbourne, Barry begun to write about his time in Vietnam which culminated in the publishing of his first text entitled Well Done Those Men, in 2004. Barry received many letters and emails of gratitude from veterans and the family of veterans, who shared many similar experiences with Barry. Barry's next title was The View From Connors Hill, a prequel to Well Done Those Men. The View From Connors Hill examined Barry's life in Swifts Creek as a child and young adult. Barry Published his first fiction book in 2009 titled Tag, a story of a young adult from Eastern Victoria (Australia), who served in World War One. Following a ten-year hiatus, Barry published his second fiction book The Operators in 2019.

References

https://insites.newington.nsw.edu.au/litfest/presenters/barry-heard/

https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/resources/barry-heard-australian-army-post-traumatic-stress-disorder

http://www.vvaa.org.au/op-rpt.htm

http://7rar.asn.au/wp/?page_id=456

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