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Knife Making As A Hobby Knife making can be a rewarding past time, making a chef or outdoor knife to your own design. Some knife makers forge their own blades, others buy the blades ready-made and make their own handle and sheaths. It all depends on how much time and tools you have available. Kit knife making is where you select a blade shape and customise with handle materials of your choice, then build a knife over a couple of afternoons. Designing your own handle shape specifically to your own liking, building the knife and field testing it can be a good way to test your creativity and ability to turn an idea into reality. 24 COMMANDO NEWS ~ Edition 10 I June 2017
On the wrestling mat, in the jungles of Vietnam and in his own mind, John Kinsela has fought more than his fair share of battles. Earlier in his life, his service was recognised with medals and badges. Now he has received another award: The Medal of the Order of Australia. Mr Kinsela, 67, said he was grateful to receive such a “big honour”. “It’s all them years that you put into a sport, and it’s good to know you’re getting something back,” he said. Mr Kinsela’s lifelong passion for wrestling started at Redfern PCYC, or Police Boys’ Club as it was then known, when he was a teenager. He was just 19 when he became the first Aboriginal man to represent Australia at the Olympics for wrestling, at Mexico in 1968. The following year he was conscripted to fight in the Vietnam War, where he served for two years as a gunner. The painful memories of the war returned to Mr Kinsela all too soon, when he wrestled again for Australia at the 1972 Munich Olympics. He remembers being in the courtyard of the Olympic Village when the first shots rang out at the start of the deadly Israeli hostage situation. “All of the sudden you could hear the AK-47s going off, and being in Vietnam the year before I thought, ‘no, not here’,” Mr Kinsela said. “I just put it down as loud firecrackers, not thinking anything like that had happened at the Olympics. “At the end, there was 11 people killed. Some of them were wrestlers and one of them was the wrestling JOHN KINSELA OAM John with Sigmund Jablonski OAM, also Vietnam veteran and ex <strong>Commando</strong>. manager. It kind of hit home because it could’ve been us." Mr Kinsela became a courier and moved to Black - town with his wife Yvonne, where they raised their three children. He also served in the Army Reserve Com - mando Unit for seven years, reaching the rank of Corporal and being named <strong>Commando</strong> of the Year in 1981. Kinsela at Mount Druitt PCYC, which he has lifted to be one of the top wrestling clubs in the State with the help of Stephan Jaeggi, his former protege and now fellow coach. His service to wrestling includes volunteer work at PCYCs including Burwood, Bankstown, Hornsby, Black town and now Mount Druitt. He has trained Olympic wrestlers, and fought his own battles away from the spotlight. Mr Kinsela speaks frankly about overcoming posttraumatic stress disorder and losing his brother, a fellow Vietnam veteran, to alcoholism. Many of the men he served alongside have been lost to suicide or cancer, which Mr Kinsela partially attributes to the effects of Agent Orange. “From 2001 to 2003 was the worst part of my life, because things weren’t going well,” he said. “I was drinking, smoking, all these things. I didn’t have any self-esteem.” He said he owes his triumphs in life to good mentors. Through wrestling and his work with Indigenous justice, he has now become a mentor to others. Courtesy of the Blacktown Sun COMMANDO NEWS ~ Edition 10 I June 2017 25
Page 1 and 2: AUSTRALIAN COMMANDO ASSN INC. Regis
Page 3 and 4: REGISTERED BY AUSTRALIA POST PUBLIC
Page 5 and 6: Australian Commando Association NSW
Page 7 and 8: News from our National Vice Preside
Page 9 and 10: From the Prolific Pen of Harry Bell
Page 11 and 12: 2/7 TH REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE "Info
Page 13 and 14: NSW WELFARE OFFICER’S REPORT APPL
Page 15 and 16: VALE CAPT Don ASTILL LT Phil JOHNSO
Page 17 and 18: It is with great sadness that we in
Page 19 and 20: AUSTRALIAN COMMANDO ASSOCIATION (NS
Page 21 and 22: NSW Members attending Long Tan memo
Page 23 and 24: Warrant Officer Ray Simpson VC DCM
Page 25: WO Ray Simpson VC DCM… (Continued
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Page 33 and 34: MV Krait 2017 Refit Progress Report
Page 35 and 36: Chief of Army recognised by the US
Page 37 and 38: Soldier at forefront of SAS Trainin
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Page 43 and 44: We spent an uncomfortable night bef
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Page 49 and 50: RSL DefenceCare is a charity and a
Page 51 and 52: ‘COMMANDO FOR LIFE’ Australian
Page 53 and 54: POEM I LOOK FORWARD TO THAT DAY by
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Page 57 and 58: Australian Commando Association VIC
Page 59 and 60: Australian Commando Association QLD
Page 61 and 62: D S M Z 1941 - 1946 AUSTRALIAN AN C

Commando News Winter Edition10 June17

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