Medal is a tribute to national service

Yawuru elder Jimmy Edgar was given the recognition he deserved last week when he was formally recognised at Anzac Day commemorations for his national service.

Mr Edgar was presented with an Anniversary of National Service 1951-1972 medal at the RSL in front of hundreds of people who were attending the breakfast after a poignant Anzac dawn service.

Patrons erupted in applause as Broome Shire president Graeme Campbell and RSL president John McCourt presented Mr Edgar with his bronze medal.

He was joined by his family, including his 90-year-old mother, who arrived in a wheelchair clutching an old black and white photo of young army officers, including her son.

Cr Campbell said the occasion served as a reminder of the segregation suffered by Aboriginal people in 1960s Broome, despite their contribution to country.

“Until 1967, Aboriginal people couldn’t vote, couldn’t drink in hotels, but they could get shot and killed overseas.”

Mr Edgar joined the army aged 19, leaving behind his young partner and child to take up service.

Being “mechanical-minded”, Mr Edgar served as a craftsman, spending his two-year service predominantly in the workshop repairing rifles, armouries and vehicles.

He said receiving the award was a significant moment in his life, and an opportunity to remember all indigenous servicemen.

“I feel really good, with my family and the people of Broome … to represent Australia,” he said.

“To do it on an occasion like today is a great honour.”

Mr Edgar said he considered himself one of the lucky few.

“I was probably really lucky, I never went to active service but I met good people, good comrades, we were treated as one.”

He said it was wonderful to share the occasion with the community and his family.

“Having my mum here … she had to put up with the hard things, because at one stage I was put on standby to go to Vietnam,” he said.

“She saw me in uniform, she knew it was wartime and there were a few Broome people who went to war and never came back.”