Wandering through the orchard at his brother’s Moama cherry farm a couple of times a year is a welcome change of pace for retired army Colonel Rowan Martin.
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Rowan, who now lives at Point Lonsdale near Geelong, wrote to The Riv last week in response to the Taliban’s resurgence in Afghanistan.
The 53-year-old is the son Bill and Nan Martin, well known to the Moama community for their successful cherry growing property and regular appearances at the popular Farmers’ Market.
“My parents moved to Moama in 1996 and then Dad bought a cherry orchard a few years later,” Mr Martin said.
“They now live near the Rich River Golf Club and my brother Cam (Campbell), and his wife Anna, run the cherry farm and have a vineyard (Tatalia).”
“My brother moved up there a couple of years earlier.
“I try to come up at least a couple of times a year.”
A father of three, Mr Martin was the chief future operations officer in Kandahar Province for a 12-month stint during the conflict.
He joined the army as a 19-year-old, having grown up in Western Victoria and attended secondary schooling at Ballarat.
In total he served for 28 years after graduating from Duntroon as a Lieutenant in the Infantry Corp.
“I am the only member of the immediate family with military service,” he said.
“I had a variety of posting around Australia and overseas and deployed on operations to East Timor, Solomon Islands and Afghanistan.”
He retired in 2015 as a Colonel, a rank had risen to six years earlier.
Since then he has worked in the oil and gas area and now works in project consultation.
A lot of younger soldiers are being pressed for comment by their civilian friends about what is happening.
He was inspired to write to The Riv after making contact with returned veterans through a variety of social media channels.
“A lot of them find it very difficult to talk about,” he said.
“I’ve always considered it the most noble of professions and much to my wife’s chagrin I would do it all over again.”
He married his wife, Lyndal, in 1999, and since then has soldiered his way around the world in support of numerous conflicts and peace-keeping missions.
Kandahar is the traditional home of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Mr Martin working with forces from the United States, along with Australian troops, and teams from New Zealand, Singapore, Britain and the Netherlands.
As chief future operations officer he was in charge of a 20-strong team responsible for planning all operations in Southern Afghanistan.
“Our role was also to work closely with the Afghan National Security Force, in building their capacity to maintain peace,” Mr Martin said.
“Most of us were surprised at the rapid collapse.
“But we always knew we could not stay there forever.”
He was part of the 2018 Invictus Games organising committee, the event which was staged in Sydney.
“It was a way of giving back,” he said.
This was Mr Martin’s letter to The Riv:
Like many veterans of the Afghanistan war, I watched the news of Kabul falling rapidly to Taliban control with a variety of emotions; shock, anger, and resignation.
Many of my civilian friends have asked me for my views on the current situation and eventually they ask the perennial question asked of any veteran about war…” Was it worth it?”
Over the coming days, and following weeks, there will be a variety of debates based on that one question. In the end, it’s all about perspective.
Politicians will state the case from their policy view, journalists will form a view to suit their narrative and serving members will be constrained from giving their opinion as all serving military members from democratic nations should.
The answer to that simple question is far too complex for a media sound bite and will not fit into 128 characters or less for a social media comment. However, I offer my view solely to help any veteran struggling to express how they feel about the current situation when asked by friends and family.
Australian soldiers, sailors, and airmen serve the democratically elected government of the day.
Our mission in Afghanistan was clear; to prevent that country from becoming a safe haven for future terrorists. The ADF completed a variety of tasks to fulfill that mission from eliminating threats, training the Afghan army and police and providing humanitarian aid.
At times things went badly but we remained focused on the task and did our best to help people who have suffered indescribably.
All veterans build a bond with the various indigenous populations where we have served. Many were as much our allies as our fellow soldiers. We despair what the future will be for our Afghan friends but take solace in the fact that we were sincere in trying to bring stability to Afghanistan to enable their own people to at least stand a chance against the Taliban.
Unfortunately, the world is an imperfect place but by any measure, when you compare Afghanistan 2001 to Afghanistan today, we achieved our mission, but we had to leave at some time.
We lost 41 comrades in the war and many more returned home with physical and mental wounds that will never heal. To suggest that they had died or sustained horrific injuries for no worthwhile reason is to insult the selfless service of our ADF.
There is no more noble profession than the military. To voluntary place your life at risk for a foreign community and a different culture far from home requires both courage and compassion that many of the domestic commentators will never comprehend.
Many veterans will choose not to answer that perennial question to avoid a confrontation with people who don’t understand what you have seen that can’t be unseen. However, there are people who do understand and won’t press you for a view. They are your fellow veterans, and we are here to support each other.
Please reach out to your local RSL or other Ex- Service Organizations.
Stand tall, be proud of your service. You have done your duty.
- Rowan Martin, proud son of Bill and Nan Martin of Moama
Kyabram Free Press and Campaspe Valley News editor