2023 marked the 50th anniversary of Australia’s withdrawal in 1973 of our ten-year involvement in the Vietnam War in which 60,000 Australians served, more than 3,000 were physically wounded and, tragically, 523 lost their lives.

Each year, Australia remembers and honours these veterans on Vietnam Veterans Day, 18 August.

Less than two weeks later, one such 89-year-old Digger and his wife set off from Mackay, Queensland, on a plane bound for Canberra.

Humble to the core, he had no idea of the scale of event that awaited him. “It was a big surprise,” he later admitted, sitting in his wheelchair at Poppy’s Café following the Last Post Ceremony on Wednesday evening, 31 August, at the Australian War Memorial.

This humble Digger is Keith Payne VC AM.

Keith is the 96th recipient of the highest honour for bravery available in the Commonwealth, which is the highest decoration for gallantry ‘in the presence of the enemy’, and the last living Australian recipient of the original Imperial Victoria Cross. Keith is also a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and a finalist in the Senior Australian of the Year Awards.

The event was Keith’s 90th birthday party, made possible thanks to the generosity of Canberra couple Richard Rolfe AM and Debbie Rolfe AM, and others whose lives Keith has touched, including RSL President Greg Melik.

Those in attendance to celebrate Keith’s life, along with his wife Flo, sons Ron, Greg, Colin and Derek and members of their families, amounted to an extraordinary assembly of some of the most decorated military and civilian Australians and international guests, dignitaries and veterans.

Amongst the guests were Australian Victoria Cross recipients Dan Keighran VC and Mark Donaldson VC; close friend and New Zealand VC recipient Willie Apiata VC; Cross of Valour recipients Darrell Tree CV, Victor Boscoe CV, and Tim Britten CV; George Cross recipient Michael Pratt GC; and Patrick Mung Mung, Elder, senior Lawman and songman; Peter Thomas, Kimberley Squadron NORFORCE veteran; and Owen Thomas, Kimberley Squadron NORFORCE veteran who travelled from East Kimberley WA. These men conducted a special Kija/Gija Joonba ceremony in ceremonial dress (nagas, ochre paint and red Lawman headbands) later in the evening, which gives Keith honorary status as a totem brother (red Kangaroo).

Scattered around elegantly decorated tables in the War Memorial Aircraft Hall were also likely more Australians who have earned the honours of Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), Member of the Order of Australia (AM), Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), Conspicuous Service Cross (CSC), Conspicuous Service Medal (CSM), Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) Member, Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO), the Public Service Medal (PSM), Air Force Cross (AFC) and Reserve Force Decoration (RFD) than have ever assembled at a private event in Australian history.

Other distinguished guests included Governor-General David Hurley AC DSC, and Mrs Linda Hurley; Sir Peter Cosgrove AK CVO MC and Lady Cosgrove; Peter Dutton MP; Senator Jacqui Lambie; Barnaby Joyce MP; Matt Keogh MP; Phillip Thompson OAM MP; and Greg Melik, President of the RSL Australia, amongst others too numerous to list.

Keith’s was certainly no ordinary birthday party. Nor should it be.

For though he would protest, Keith is no ordinary Australian.

Gallantry in the presence of the enemy

And one guest who had travelled from the US to honour his lifelong friend, Silver Star recipient Jerry Dellwo SS, knows this better than anyone.

In May 1969, Keith was commanding the 212th Company of the 1st Mobile Strike Force Battalion. “That’s where I met Keith and immediately for 40 days, we were at one skirmish or one big battle after another,” says Dellwo.

Until one day, when the company was overrun and many were wounded, killed and scattered, Dellwo found himself with one other medic and five wounded men, isolated and alone. “We were in a bad situation, there wasn’t a whole lot of options left,” he says.

Dellwo reports that Keith went out on his own to look for his men. “He became a focal point that soldiers could stick with him and reconstitute a fighting unit of some sort.” Keith then continued and somehow found Dellwo and his injured party.

“How he found us, is still a bit of a mystery.”

What ensued was an all-night ordeal getting each wounded man to safety. Tragically, two of the men died. However, Dellwo is clear: “If he hadn’t found us and I had stuck to my plan, it would have greatly increased our chances of not making it. We are very good friends. And I thank him for experiences that have changed my life for the better,” he says.

During the course of Keith’s birthday party, his motto of ‘Never leaving anyone behind’ was repeated in speeches, and evident in testimony upon testimony of the difference he has made to others since returning from Vietnam. Renowned TV journalist Ray Martin AM accurately summarised what was palpable in the Aircraft Hall: “Keith has arguably done more since he was awarded the VC than he did to get the VC.”

From his longstanding agitation for the recognition of Indigenous veterans, and regular trips to isolated Indigenous communities to support and inspire schoolchildren to his tireless work for mental health support for returning veterans and all Australians who live with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition which left an indelible mark on him and his family, Keith continues to ‘go out on his own’ to do his best to ensure that no Australian is left behind. In the 1990s, the Keith Payne Unit for veterans living with PTSD was established as part of the Greenslopes Private Hospital in Queensland.

“That was all those years ago and we have been trying to get something more substantial, not only for the veteran community but for the people of Australia. We are having nurses committing suicide and police, and cattlemen. It’s something that must happen for the Australian people,” Keith says. His son Greg, agrees: “Families of those with PTSD need help.”

And true to form it seems, within a few minutes of arriving at his own birthday party, Keith wasted no time in asking for help from Minister of Veterans’ Affairs Matt Keogh. This was later acknowledged by the Minister in his speech; “Our veterans and their families deserve all the support our government can give,” he affirmed.

And Keith’s commitment to using his Victoria Cross not for his own purposes, but for the community, has inspired the next generation of VC recipients to do the same. Willie Apiata VC from New Zealand, who also presented Keith with a special totem in a powerful and emotive presentation, said “I will do my best to follow in your footsteps for there is still service to be done. I will carry my VC for all the people of New Zealand.”

Keith’s greatest legacy outside his family? Son Greg says “His Diggers”.

It seems that no Australian falls outside this reference – and Keith is not done yet.

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