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DAY, Brian
Raymond. aka Sir Brian Day, aka Dr. Brian Day, aka
Doris Day, aka Dolly Day.
215849.
Born 1942.
For many years now
Veterans have seen articles published in many books
about Brian Day or have been present when he relates
his feats of derring do in Vietnam. To
those who served in the SAS and the AATTV the
stories told could not be corroborated from real
Military history of the time. Some
of the events claimed seem to be very far fetched
and many inquiries over the years have been made to
CPMH and now to ANZMI to find the
truth. Hundreds of documents and books
have been researched in an effort to find the truth
and publish it so that the myths can be put to bed.
If you served with Sir Dr
Brian Raymond Day at any time during your service we
would like to hear from you if you have any doubt in
your mind as to what you have been told. If we
dont already have the answers we will research
further to discover the truth and you will be advised
of the results. Your questions and the answers
will be placed on this page as it may also clear up
any stories others may have also heard.
Your details will not be published, instead your
questions and the answers will appear as per below.
Only your corps will appear in the "who from"
section.
We at ANZMI thank you in advance for your
assistance. The Military history for Vietnam
has been written and cannot be changed. The
entries below are not necessarily in date order as
some of the answers have to be researched.
From: Infantry [SAS] He was always accepted because of the SAS Moths that he wore in uniform and the Badge Replica on Suits, etc. I have since been informed that you may have information that would indicate that he is not entitled to either the Wings or the Beret, any information that you could provide in relation to this matter would be appreciated. Incidentally he has since appeared at an SAS Reunion, at which I was present, and again was widely accepted, but once more no one could quite remember when he served within SAS.
ANZMI reply.
From: Anonymous
Sent: Thursday, 16 February 2006
Sirs,To: information@anzmi.net Subject: Brian Raymond DAY I noticed that, on the photo of DAY and WRIGHT, found at http://www.anzmi.net/day/awards.jpg , there appears to be a U S Army Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) on the table. However...he makes no claims to being in the U S Army, and I am unaware of the CIB being available to foreign nationals. You may view the criteria for the CIB, here: http://www.americal.org/awards/cib.htm I hope you find this info to be useful.
ANZMI
reply.
Thanks for your
interest and information.
There is no
evidence to suggest Brian Day was a member of,
attached to, or posted to, the US Army during a
time of conflict.
Like you,
we are unaware of the CIB being available to
non-US Army personnel.
Brian Day is
entitled to wear the Australian Infantry Combat
Badge for his AATTV service during his second
tour.
His Vietnam
service on his first tour with HQAFV and 1ARU,
1ATF, did not qualify him for the award.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Infantry
Sent: Wednesday, 15 February 2006 10:21 PM To: information@anzmi.net Subject: Brian Day, Cambodia
I have read
and heard of Dr Brian Day's story of losing a battalion or
half battalion of FANK at
Battambang
[sic],
Cambodia.
You appear to
be privy to his records so is there
anything there about his service with AATTV in
Cambodia during the
Vietnam war? I'd
especially like to know about this
Battalion of FANK loss.
I look forward
to your reply.
ANZMI reply.
Thanks for
your question.
FANK = Forces
Armees Nationales Khmeres, the Cambodian
National Army.
There is
nothing in Brian Day's records to suggest he
served with AATTV, or any other unit within
the Australian Army, in Cambodia at any time
during the war.
During his
tour with AATTV, 71-72, he did assist in
training Cambodian soldiers at the Phuoc Tuy
Training Centre.
This
Battalion of FANK at Batdambang
story has
been researched, but not in great depth, and
no information has been found to support it
as fact, Brian Day in attendance or not.
We would
appreciate any further information on this
battle.
ANZMI.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----Original Message----- Subject: RE: Brian Day Dear ANZMI. Some years ago I was sent a copy of a newspaper article about Brian Day, Sydney Herald Friday April 20th 1984. I would like to reproduce some of the article which I will send you if you don't already have a copy. Brian Day's words are in bold font. "Brian Day hasn't stopped thinking about Vietnam since he left in 1972. He remembers one particularly bloody afternoon in early 1972 when the battalion of Cambodian troops he was training came under heavy fire in the Long Hai mountains in southern Vietnam" "We lost 48 men that afternoon, The Cambodians had run out of ammunition and were trying to get helicopter support. The only support we got was a rocket fired by an American gunship and that landed in the middle of us, killing about 14 people. In the end the battle just died out. The Vietcong did their damage and just left" end quotes. I cannot imagine Cambodian troops calling in US helicopter gunship support, surely this would have been done by the English speaking training staff. I have looked for information on this contact but can't find any. What I did discover is that, at that time, AATTV personnel were absolutely prohibited from engaging with the enemy so I have to believe that this contact would have been well documented and investigated. I can't find one mention of this anywhere except in Day's article. There are documents that make reference to ARVN contacts while with US Special Forces training staff around the same time, but in a different part of the Province, I have read excerpts from them. My questions. (1) Did this action in the Long Hai Hills happen as described by Brian Day? (2) Would an AATTV member take a Battalion of Cambodian, or Vietnamese soldiers for that matter, into the hills on a training exercise? Day didn't actually say that he was with the Cambodian troops at the time of the contact but a quick read of his story would suggest he was. Please reply. ps. You must be made aware that Brian Day threatens legal action against anyone who questions his war service and his apparently phoney tales.
ANZMI reply Thanks for the warning, we're quite aware of Brian Day's means of defence when questioned on his war service and decorations. Thanks also for your questions. (1) We have a copy of this newspaper article and have done a little research into the story. We have found nothing to suggest that this contact happened. As you suggest, this contact would have been well documented and investigated. The closest we came to information on something like this was a MATT report on operations conducted by Vietnamese Forces in the Hills and wider Province areas while accompanied by advisors. March-April 1971. (2) We can't answer this question right now, sorry. We could hazard a guess but we shouldn't in this situation.
Perhaps a
former AATTV member could enlighten us on
the size of indigenous and Cambodian units
that were trained in the area in Brian
Day's time, especially around early 1972.
FURTHER INFORMATION.
Source, Bruce Davies' book "The Men
Who Persevered"
The total number of Cambodians KIA
during 1972 was 26, and that was at
all of the UITG training battalion
locations. There were no recorded
contacts between the enemy and
Cambodian units with Australian
trainers in 1972.
From: AATTV
Sent: Thursday, 16 February 2006 7:08 PM To: information@anzmi.net Subject: BR Day ANZMI, I
have read with some interest the report
on Day. I
have had some earlier dealings with your
site on the expose of XXXX.
Brian Day claims to have
served with US Special Forces in Vietnam
this may be the case in a training role, however, he
was NEVER in combat whilst serving with
Special Forces.
The last AATTV adviser who served in a
US Special Forces combat unit, 2 Mobile
Strike Force, 5 th Special Forces Group,
out of Pleiku, was 25415 Capt Peter John
Shilston MC. When
Shilston left the Mike Force at Pleiku
on 26 Aug 1970 the AATTV
commitment to the US
Special Forces ceased completely.
Brian Day's record of Vietnam
service HQ AFV Saigon 28 Jan 67 to 9 Jan
68. AATTV
28 April
71 to 19 April
72.
It is obvious that he
could never have served with US Special
Special Forces on secondment from AATTV
in a combat role.
I am
not conversant with the story of Day
losing half a battalion or so of a FANK
Battalion at BATDAMBANG [CAMBODIA]. I
do know having commanded a Mobile Strike
Company with 2 Mobile Strike Battalion
5th SFG Pleiku on more than one occasion
on the South Vietnamese side of the
Cambodian border that no AATTV advisor
was permitted to enter Laos or Cambodia
under any circumstance whatsoever
regardless of any operational
commitment. If
this had occurred and was reported it
may have caused a severe diplomatic
incident. Regardless
of this how would Sgt Temporary Warrant
Officer Brian Day be in command of a
FANK Battalion? Come on Day put
your hand back in your pocket.
Regards
AATTV
ANZMI reply.
Our
thanks for this information.
This
former Officer is known to us and we'll
publish his personal details if he gives
us the OK. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Infantry
Sent: Thursday, 16 February 2006 6:23 PM To: information@anzmi.net Subject: DAY and his Bronze Star
We know DAY was with AATTV in a
sedentary administrative, but not combat role. His Bronze
Star should be investigated and proof
of his award and citation should be
sought. If this "combat warrior" can
claim to be "elite" and pretend to be
entitled to the SAS Sandy Beret and
SAS Para Wings, which he is not, then
his Bronze Star needs the same
scrutiny.
Perhaps
the AATTV Association can shed more
light on his 'decoration"
ANZMI reply.
Thanks
for your input.
The
US Bronze Star was awarded for
meritorious service and also with a
"V" device for valour. If Brian Day's
medal ribbon does not bear the device
then we must assume it was for
carrying out his duties, whatever they
were, in an orderly and Militarily
correct fashion.
We
can find nothing to validate this
award. "Honours and Awards" were asked
to confirm this but used the Privacy
Act to deny any information.
Strangely, "Honours and Awards" were
able to deny two of Barry Wrights
supposed foreign awards.
Should this be a valid award, Brian
Day would be able to produce the
citation from the US Defense
Department.
The US Bronze Star is listed on his
Certificate of Service so validating
documentation must have been sighted
by CARO. Perhaps they might be able
shed some light on this for you.
ANZMI.
From: Infantry
Sent:
Thursday, 16 February 2006 8:39 PM
To: information@anzmi.net Subject: BRIAN DAY I have read the comments on the updated aspects of Days military service, and by some of the posts to this time, it appears that there is an abundance of evidence coming forward to debunk Day's claims and entitlements.
If Day
has perpetuated his own 'combat
myths' and is wearing decorations
and regalia for which he is not
entitled, he should be totally
exposed for what he is.
He also
seeks glory with the Frontiersmen,
who have bestowed their own forms of
Post Nominals and Decorations...
Lastly and
sadly, his claimed 'academic"
entitlements such as Dr, if gained
from 'non registered universities'
further perpetuate this mans belief
in his own persona. I would
imagine Melbourne University or even
the courts of law would not
give any credibility or
entertain or recognise these
'academic qualifications'.
I also
read that Day has threatened
defamation of anyone who publicly
questions his service etc........."
let the marbles fall where they
may....it will be Day's onus to
PROVE he is entitled, not those who
question his claims"...
Keep up
the good work and having the
fortitude to question this mans
claims.
ANZMI reply.
Thanks for your interest.
With reference to the section of
your email that we have highlighted
in blue font. We would like you to
check on your 'non
registered universities' statement.
We
have a copy of a Brian Day CV that
was promulgated by an ESO in NSW as
fact. It was passed around the
Veteran Community with some
additions that denied the existence
of two institutions of learning
where Brian Day claims to have been
honoured with Doctorates. Perhaps
you could search
the
Internet to find out if they do
exist and would be the kind of
institutions that award Doctorates
of Human Sciences or Doctorates of
Letters to people like Brian Day.
They are the London Academy of
Science and the London Institute of
Applied Science.
Brian Day claims another doctorate
from the Kensington University of
California, this institution's
details, though skimpy, are also
available on the Internet.
Ref
your sentence about Brian Day
"threatening defamation", he has
already challenged one Veteran to
take the claims that appear in our
Cases page story to the Federal
Police but unfortunately Day chose
the wrong person. The man has no
connection to ANZMI.
Thanks for your final comments.
ANZMI. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Infantry
Sent:
Friday, 17 February 2006 8:30 AM
To: information@anzmi.net Subject: BRIAN DAY
Hello. Can you help me with any
information about Brian Day's
degrees? I have a photo of his
business card, maybe an old one
that has his name Brian R, Day and
the letters KCSJ, PhD and JP after
it. I know what they stand for but
I didn't think Dr. Day had a PhD.
I thought he was called Dr. for
other degrees.
Does
he have a PhD?
Thanks.
ANZMI
reply.
Thanks
for your interest.
Unfortunately Brian Day's
doctorates claims, real or
imagined, are not really any of
our business. We are only
concerned with claims relating to
his military service.
You
could contact the AATTV
Association and ask for your
question to be passed to Brian Day
or contact all the Universities in
the Sydney area and ask them.
Should you find that he doesn't
have a PhD or any other
doctorates, you could try
contacting the Federal Police.
Sorry
we can't be of more assistance to
you.
ANZMI. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Infantry
Sent:
Saturday, 18 February 2006 9:45 AM
To: information@anzmi.net Subject: BRIAN DAY I met Brian Day during the Macquarie University conference, "The impact of the Vietnam war on Australian society"1987 (?) He had learned that I had been in Cambodia late 1974 early 75 as a backpacker. Brian told me he had lost a Battalion at Battambang in the earlie seventies;"they had been decimated by the Khmer Rouge".I asked him what was he doing in Cambodia at that time and he told me he was with the training team," but it was all hush hush". Brian's name came up in conversation several years later regarding his new title as sir Brian Day.I was told by another Veteran that the title was sought and obtained by Brian through the Catholic church as some type of title within their institution only! ANZMI reply.
Thanks for this. The Cambodia
story again. We can assure
you that no AATTV members
entered Cambodia to train troops
or conduct operations with them.
Perhaps an AATTV historian could
tell us if Team members carried
out any "hush hush" type
operations we don't know about.
----- Original Message -----
From: Infantry
To: information@anzmi.net
Sent: Friday, February 17,
2006 8:19 PM
Subject: re Day
Anonymous.
From
the book "Gallant and Distinguished
Service Vietnam 1962-1973 by
I.L.Barnes ISBN 0 999859 091
I have checked the
"American Gallantry Awards To the
Australian Army" for Vietnam
service.
Under the heading
"Bronze Star for Valour" - Total
Awarded 69. Under the heading
"Bronze Star for Meritorious
Service" - Total awarded 83. There
is no mention of any person named
Day or a similar name.
ANZMI reply.
Thanks for this.
The
Barnes book is no longer recognised
by the Directorate of Honours and
Awards as a source of information.
Ross Sutton's later book does note
the US Bronze Star (for meritorious
service) along with the Vietnamese
Cross of Gallantry with Palm as a
personal award, the same as a unit
citation, and other valid foreign
awards. This book is likewise not
recognised as a source of
information.
Bruce Davies' book, "The Men Who
Persevered" notes Brian Day as
having been awarded both of these
medals. In answer to our queries on
these, Bruce Davies informed us that
the information "comes from the
officially recognised files of the
Dept of Defence, Directorate of
Honours and Awards"
Brian Day's Certificate of Service
dated March 2001 shows these and
other foreign awards as being
officially recognised.
To
allay any further doubts about Brian
Day's authorised foreign awards,
here is the list as shown in order
on his Certificate of Service.
Decorations, Medals and
Commendations (Foreign)
Vietnamese Campaign Medal
Unit Citation of the Vietnamese
Cross of Gallantry with Palm
United States of America Bronze Star
Republic of Vietnam Cross of
Gallantry with Palm (personal award)
Republic of Vietnam Training Service
Medal Second Class
Kingdom of Cambodia National Defence
Medal with Bronze Star
(March 2001)
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From: AATTV ANZMI, The AATTV Association have no concern for the academic qualifications that Brian Day claims to have achieved, be it 'Sir Brian' or 'Doctor Brian'. Our association recognises his service as an advisor Sgt T/WO2 Corps Infantry with AATTV 1971/72. This service qualifies him together with all others who were on the posted strength of the unit, life membership of the AATTV Association. As either a financial or non financial member providing that he has not resigned his life membership BR Day is governed by the constitution of The AATTV Association. In general terms an article within the constitution states, 'Should a general member by his behaviour demean or bring the good standing of The AATTV Association into ill repute, that he show good cause why he should not be struck off the AATTV nominal Life Membership Roll for the life of the AATTV Association. The following is in the public arena either verbally quoted by Brian Day or in published photograph or print.: He had served with The Special Air Service [SAS Australian Army] with an entitlement to wear the SAS Beret together with the SAS Para Wings. He had served with AATTV with secondment to US Special Forces in 1967. He lost half of his FANK Cambodian Battalion at Batdambang [Cambodia] during his 1971/72 tour of duty with AATTV. Day's Record Of Service states , He was never on the posted strength of the SAS. During his tour of duty Vietnam 67 he was a Corporal Batman Driver with Australian Force Vietnam in Saigon , an instructor Corporal Australian Reinforcement Unit Task Force Nui Dat. During this tour he was not on the posted strength of AATTV and never attached to US Special Forces. In 1971/72 he served with AATTV in a variety of training roles some of these under the command of US Special Forces. He was never in command of a FANK Battalion and was never in Cambodia at any time therefore was not at Batdambang as claimed. Please be advised that within the AATTV Association the alleged improper behaviour of BR Day is being scrutinized under the appropriate articles within the constitution of the AATTV Association. Regards ANZMI reply.
Thanks for this
information. From:
Infantry/Military
Police/Civilian
Police Veteran
Sent: Saturday, 18 February 2006 11:01 PM To: information@anzmi.net Subject: Days Academic Quals After taking
appropriate
investigations and
consultations with
UNSW, I can pass on
general information
that the academic
quals of DR DAY
aren't worth the
money he paid for
them. None
of the institutes
that 'bestowed'
these awards are
accepted or
recognised
as statutory
approved
universities. The
comments made to me
are interalia "none
of these
institutions have a
campus; most have an
office as a campus;
none of the courses
are structured where
'attendance' is
required for
semesters, and the
list of failures of
goes on.
Essentially, these
degrees according to
the individual I
spoke to 'are
bullshit" .......and
anyone who professes
to have a Doctorate
etc, and more so
uses the post
nominals or titles,
is delusional" .
To attain a
Doctorate, one first
must attain and
possess a Degree,
and the same process
goes for a Masters
and Doctorate.....
Dream on Dr
Day.......you are a
'posing
pretender'
........of
military and
academic
status..........shame
shame shame
ANZMI
reply.
Thanks for your
input on Dr. Day's
doctorates. While we
are more concerned
with his war
service claims, your
message will
undoubtedly be of
interest to many
people.
Sir, while we
publish every
message received and
appreciate your
input, we must ask
that you confine any
further comms to
questions or
information on Brian
Day's claims
relating to his two
tours in Vietnam.
The Veteran
Community will judge
him according to the
information you have
already supplied,
which they can
check, so we should
leave it at that.
Thanks again.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From:
Bruce
Sent: Sunday, 19 February 2006 5:10 PM To: information@anzmi.net Subject: Reference Brian Day From Bruce Davies. I have just been
advised on the
flurry of emails
that have been
sent on Brian
Day to your
site. As the
co-author and
principal
researcher for
The Men
who Persevered,
which is a
summarised
history on the
AATTV, let me
assure your
readers that the
information in
the Nominal Roll
section of that
book has been
thoroughly
researched. The
honours and
awards listed
are from the
files of the
Department of
Defence approved
list. I do not
have the
authority, nor
do I wish to
publish personal
information on
the citations to
those awards on
the
internet. Brian
Day has
communicated
with me over
several years
and I have
advised him that
the information
on him contained
in several
publications is
wrong. If he
has been
misquoted, which
he claimed, it
was my advice
that he take the
matter up with
the publishers
and have it
corrected. The
Men who
Persevered provided a
reference to a
study conducted
on FANK contacts
in 1972, it is a
comprehensive
document and
there were no
major contacts
between FANK
battalions with
Australian
instructors and
the enemy during
1972. No
Australians with
AATTV went into
Cambodia in
1972. This
information is
evident from the
signals and
other
correspondence
available in the
Australian War
Memorial
archives. Those
who wish to
communicate with
me on the
information in
the book may do
so through this
email address.
Bruce Davies
Co-author The Men who
Persevered
1 RAR 65-66, and
AATTV 67-68,
69-70
ANZMI
reply.
While Bruce did
provide his
email address,
we will not
publish it here.
Should
anyone wish to
send a private
email to Bruce,
please send a
request for his
address to
information@anzmi.net
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Infantry Sent: Sunday, February 19, 2006 4:50 PM To: information@anzmi.net Subject: Brian Day medals ANZMI. I see
on your
letters page
that Day's
Bronze Star
was
questioned
and it may
be genuine
or may not
be from what
I read.
Confusing.
How about
his
Vietnamese
Cross of
Gallantry
with Palm? I
see in one
photo that
he wears
what appears
to be the
unit
citation for
this and in
another
photo I see
what I'm
sure is the
medal, a
personal award.
I would
believe that
some AATTV
members
received the
medal and
have been
authorised
to wear it
so there
must have
been
paperwork
from the RVN
government
like a
written
citation and
maybe a
covering
letter to
his unit
commander or
HQ AFV
Saigon.
In your file
on Day, do
you have the
citation
written in
Vietnamese
or the
English
translation?
If you do,
does it look
genuine?
I have
copies of
medals
citations
and their
accompanying certificates from
the RVN
written in
Vietnamese,
what else,
that I
translated
to English
for a friend
and could do
the same for
Day's if you
have it.
Any chance
you could
reply
showing a
copy of
whatever you
have?
Do you know
why he's a
life member
of the VVAA
NSW branch?
For his
services to
veterans,
that's why.
What
services?
His well circulated
CV is a load
of crap,
he's done
nothing for
no one
except
himself and
his cronies.
The veteran
grapevine
says things got
too "hot"
for him in
Toowoomba
and he fled
to Victoria.
Did you hear
this one?
It's about
time someone
got into
this fraud,
well done,
thanks.
ANZMI
reply.
Thanks for
your email.
We imagine
that with
all the
current
interest in
Brian Day's
Vietnam
service that
there will
be someone
out there
looking
further into
his medal
entitlements.
Yes, he does
have an
individual
award of the
VN Cross of
Gallantry
with Palm. (see
list in a
previous
reply) If
anyone has a
copy of the
citation in
English or
Vietnamese,
we would
appreciate seeing
it. FURTHER ANZMI INFORMATION. Ref your
mention
of Brian
Day
having "fled
to
Victoria"
You were
correct,
he is
living
there
now. We
don't
know
anything
about
him "fleeing
Toowoomba"
There
could be
many
reasons
for the
move but
we'll
certainly
keep on
checking
your
information.
Toowoomba
RSL
doesn't
answer
the
phone
but
we'll
persist
and see
what
they
have to
say.
From: AATTV I noted in a contact from Infantry on the messages about Day which states “We know DAY was with AATTV in a sedentary administrative, but not combat role.” I do not know if you have details of Day’s service with AATTV but the recent book called, The Men Who Persevered written by Bruce Davies and Gary McKay ISBN 1 74114 8316 has his service with AATTV as follows: AATTV 23 Apr 71 to 19 Apr 72 Apr 71, unallotted Phuoc Tuy. May 71, MATT Phuoc Tuy 14-22 Jun 71, NOT, Pleiku. 23 Jun-Nov 71, NOTT2, Phu Cat, Bin Dinh. Dec 71 AATTV Training Group, Vung Tau Jan-Apr 72,Phuoc Tuy Training Battalion I believe members of AATTV were posted as Administrative Assistants and this title did not really cater for just what a lot of Team members did whilst so posted. Maybe there are some AATTV veterans out there that served with Day in the locations shown that can shed some light on what his actual duties were with AATTV or maybe you have that information already. ANZMI reply. Our apologies for this late reply. Thanks for your input. There appears to be absolutely no doubt that the information on Brian Day's AATTV postings shown in the Bruce Davies/Gary McKay book is correct. Brian Day's records show Asst Admin, Asst Instr - MATTs and NOTTs. We have some first and second-hand information from personnel who served with Brian Day and during the same periods of time with AATTV but unfortunately is unconfirmed. Perhaps someone will see your comment above and advise us accordingly. If you are particularly interested in a Brian Day story to do with his postings to any of the above units, please get back to us. We think the Cambodia and Long Hais FANK stories have been addressed sufficiently. There appears to be absolutely no doubt that the information on Brian Day's AATTV postings shown in the Bruce Davies book is correct. From: AATTV Just what heroic deeds did Day do to earn such a prestigious award as the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm. His service in Pleiku was strictly administrative and his service at Phu Cat was on an administrative basis. His service in Vung Tau would hardly apply. You have already noted that the service with Phuoc Tuy Training Battalion did not involve Australians in any action. That leaves April 71 unallotted Phuoc Tuy, and May 71 MATT Phuoc Tuy. Any heroic deeds in these locations would have been recorded. Maybe Brian Day can explain to the veteran community just how he was awarded the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm. ANZMI reply. Thanks for your question. According to Bruce Davies' book, page 184, your statement on Brian Day's service in Pleiku and at Phu Cat is accurate. We understand that his service was of a purely administrative nature, ie, not an instructor but in an administrative support role. You have already ruled out service in Phuoc Tuy Province as an area where an action would deserve such an award, and we totally agree. There are only Pleiku and Phu cat left where he may have carried out notable deeds but then again we all agree that Brian Day was involved in a logistics role in these two locations. The Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry was devised to be an equivalent of the French Croix de Guerre and would not have been handed out liberally. There would have been a citation typed out by a clerk noting the decree number and date which created this recommendation of the award for the individual. The decision would then briefly describe exactly why the the award was being recommended and if accepted by the Vietnamese military region Commanding General, he would sign it and affix his seal. Distribution of this, along with a covering letter, would have been to: HQ AFV, "for forwarding" Joint General Staff/Adjutant Generals Division "for reporting" Free World Military Assistance Committee, "for information" and a copy for the files. HQ AFV would forward a copy to CARO to be entered in the man's records file along with an English translation. We have copies of Vietnamese citations for awards made to Australians and these came from readily available research facilities, eg the War Museum. We feel that if Bruce Davies searched these same facilities came up a Brian Day Cross of Gallantry citation, he would have mentioned in his book. Rather, he pointed out that in the only two locations where Brian Day may have done something out of the ordinary to gain this medal, Pleiku and Phu Cat, Day's duties were of a relatively mundane nature. We hold copies of two of Brian Day's records, a CARO (now SCMA) Record of Service and an AAB83 page where information on the Cross of Gallantry with Palm entry doesn't quite add up. The person who supplied us with these alleges that the AAB83 entry for the Cross of Gallantry with Palm, Unit Citation for all AATTV personnel, has been altered to reflect a personal award. We saw this AAB83 entry a long time ago, thought it to be a clerical error and dismissed is as such. We are taking advice on this right now. More later. From: AATTV
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2006 9:51 PM To: 'information@anzmi.net' Subject: Re: SAS & C of G I note that the AAB 83 records of Day held by you show erroneous entries in relation to his SAS qualifications and his Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm (personal award). Evidence presented also appears to show that Day was hardly, if ever, in a position to earn such a prestigious decoration. I now have to ask this question, just how did this award get to be published in a number of books? Is this because Day produced documentation to make the claim? If so, why does Day not produce this documentation to ANZMI for scrutiny and authentication or at least why can not the authors of the books produce such research documentation that they based their publications on? Indeed, there are still questions to be asked but from what I have viewed so far in the messages column, it appears, that Day has a lot of explaining to do e.g. claimed SAS qualifications, personal awards such as the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm etc. ANZMI reply. Thanks for your questions. Yes, every scrap of evidence points to Brian Day being in an administrative role at Pleiku and Phu Cat and not being involved in the AATTV training aspects of the postings and, as you say, could not have been in a position to engage the enemy in any action that would result in this award. He was an administrative assistant in the true sense of the words, organising mail, rations, accommodation etc. Not an easy job under the circumstances but.............! Your question, "-just how did this award get to be published in a number of books? Is this because Day produced documentation to make the claim? Well, we shouldn't surmise but it would appear that Brian Day told the authors he is entitled to the medal and produced something to support this claim If he produced copies of his AAB83 records to ANZMI as proof of his entitlement, we would dismiss them as worthless. Entries in an AAB83 are not considered by us to be true records. They could have been got at and altered by too many people especially by those who had the foresight and opportunity to alter them before they left the Army. We have found too many inconsistencies in Brian Day's AAB83 to believe anything he produces as proof of his claims. I think we mentioned before that he must have documents raised by the government of the former RVN as evidence of this award. We'd like to see them and have them scrutinised by by people who assist us in these things from time to time. So Dr. Day, you must have these documents that you used to impress others, now let us have them to peruse please. There are Veterans out there who are entitled to know the truth about you FROM ANZMI We think we have adequately shown that Brian Day was not an SAS Trooper at any time and was/is not entitled to wear the SAS beret and badge, or SAS Para Wings. We have also shown that his AAB83 records have been altered to show a completed SAS Cadre Course. This information will be widely distributed. As far as his personal award of the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm is concerned, we strongly doubt that this is genuine and challenge Brian Day to prove us wrong. Should Dr. Day send us the documents he used as confirmation of this personal award, we will have them scrutinised and at the slightest hint of forgery they will be forwarded to the Federal Police, relevant ex-service organisations within Australia, and then world wide. We doubt that we'll see these. We would like to see his citation for the US Bronze Star. We are aware of what they look like and we'd like to compare his to the real thing. We doubt we'll see this either. Here's the crunch ref these two medals. They are both listed on what appears to be a genuine copy of Brian Day's Certificate of Service dated 6 March 2001. What could CARO/SCMA have viewed and used as proof of the validity of these awards? Books? Not really, they're too open to providing false information. Maybe Ross Sutton could tell us where he got the Brian Day awards information that appears in his book. Day's AAB83? Believe anything written there and you'd believe in fairies. A statutory declaration from Day? Maybe. Citations? Probably, provided they were accompanied by every other document necessary eg, a letter form the unit commander making the recommendation, a letter accompanying a citation from the Military Region Commanding General, a letter from HQ AFV Saigon to CARO notifying them of the award. To ask CARO/SCMA for information on this would be a total waste of time on our part but maybe the Federal Police could get some answers. Dr. Day claimed that on his first tour he served with AATTV and US Special Forces while he was a Batman, driver, and an assistant training NCO at 1ATF. His story about being drenched with Agent Orange while decanting it into smaller containers while at 1ATF doesn't quite ring true so we'll leave this up to DVA to re-assess if needed. He falsely presented himself to be a man who saw a lot of action in Vietnam and Cambodia when he was virtually a storeman during his second tour. DVA may have an interest in this too. He claims bravery and meritorious service awards from foreign countries while his service, according to his own country's military, was recognised only by the standard awards of the time according to unit. AATTV members who served at the same time as Brian Day cannot recall any incidents or actions which would have seen him awarded a personal award of the Cross of Gallantry. What we have here is a serial wannabe who began his posing as a SAS Trooper during his first tour in 1967, if not before. He is not the drunk at the end of the RSL bar spluttering out his tales of heroism. He has, or had, a lot of influence within certain ex-service organisations and his claimed attempts at being the spokesman for the Australian Veteran Community at overseas conferences on Agent Orange may have done more harm than good. Why did we connect "Agent Orange Victim" Dr. Barry Wright and Dr. Brian Day on our Cases page? They are old friends and like peas in a pod, both major wannabes who used Veterans for their own purposes. Perhaps those of you who know Dr. Day could ask him which university granted him his PhD.
This business card was photographed in Kuranda, North Queensland, Barry Wright's old stamping ground where he used to sell doctorates. Why do we show this when it has nothing to do with his war service? Because he used allegedly phoney doctorates and knighthoods to impress Veterans to the point where he was regarded as an authority on Veterans issues, what a dangerous thing to do. This "messages" page will always remain open for further comments but only those that contain new or additional information will be replied to. We haven't finished with our investigations into Sir. Dr. Brian Raymond Day Phd, BS (US) JP etc.and all updates will appear here under the heading UPDATE From: AATTV Sent: Friday, 24 February 2006 9:04 PM To: information@anzmi.net Subject: Brian Day I have read with great interest the information you have compiled on Brian Day. Let me assure you that he did not get any decorations while serving in Phu cat, other than the Armed Forces Training Medal, 2nd Class. As this was ranked about 32nd out of about awards I would hardly call it a decoration. He was the House Admin WO, and I have to admit a very good one at that. While I did not actually serve with Brian while he was at the Cambodian Training Centre I was only a few kms away in JWTC and in a position, like so many others, where I would have known had he been in a battle of any sort and I can assure you we did not hear anything. There are certainly enough members of the AATTV who served with him in that camp who could verify or discount his claims. Bruce Davies' book, 'The men who persevered would show you who they were. I am particularly interested in the uniform, orders and decorations he is wearing in the photographs which accompanied your article. Firstly, Brian is wearing officer style 'blues' with some sort of rank on his shoulders. What sort of commission did he get and what unit did he serve in after commissioning? I don't even recognise his cap badge! And what nationality are the wings he is wearing over his right breast? I would like to see the photograph of him with the other three gentlemen enlarged and enhanced as Brian certainly appears to be wearing medals I seriously doubt he is entitled to. For example, the neck ribband and badge do not appear to be that of the KCSJ which it is claimed he was awarded. The claim that he was awarded his KCSJ by the Catholic Church is, in itself, a good indication that something is wrong. Firstly, this is not a Catholic Award!! Secondly one has to be invited to become a member and members are not permitted to petition to be given an award. The order does not carry post nominals and those awarded a Knighthood in the order are NOT permitted to use the title 'Sir' (or the equivalent). AATTV (1971 - 72) ANZMI reply. Thanks for your input and because it contains first-hand information on Phu Cat, we should reply. We have no evidence of anything out of the ordinary happening at Phu Cat. He was at Pleiku earlier and there's always the possibility that his claims of gallant action/s stem from that posting although information received says that nothing involving Day happened there either. Your questions:
"What sort of commission did he get and what unit did he serve in after commissioning?"
"And what nationality are the wings he is wearing over his right breast?"
To the best of our knowledge, Day discharged from the ARA a WO2.
He is a Deputy Commander of the Australian Legion of Frontiersmen, a para-military group, and this might explain the dress blues displaying officer's rank. At the time the photo was taken, 1984 or earlier, the Frontiersmen used military ranks.
Below is an excerpt from the Frontiersmen website, 2005, and the photo in question.
  If you search the Australian Frontiersmen website you may find a badge similar to the one Day is wearing in the photo. www.frontiersmen.org.au
We believe the wings on his right breast to be ASASR Para Wings. The Frontiersmen have their own para wings and they are very different to the above.
Ref the photo of Day in mess kit with three other gentlemen. Apologies, but we can't produce a better image, it was taken from the Frontiersmen website. The medals include Frontiersmen awards thus the long rack. Perhaps you could look at the photo of him and Barry Wright on our Cases page which shows Day's collection of awards more clearly, the KCSJ, or facsimile, is the one with the neck ribband on the bottom right of the table. We don't feel we should get into his alleged phoney knighthood business too deeply but we did mention it before and should now comment. This issue should be laid to rest once and for all. Suffice it to say that this "knighthood" supposedly came from a breakaway group in the United States, based in New York, but anything they hang on anyone is not recognised as a genuine award under the "real" Knights Hospitaller (Hospitalier) of St John. You are correct, even the genuine awards of Knight Commander or Knight of Grace, St John Hospitaller do not allow for post nominals or the title Sir. Please refer back to the previous entry on this page for a photo of Day's business card from around 1991, note the post nominal KCSJ, Knight Commander of the Order of St John Hospitaller. You might find this website interesting http://www2.prestel.co.uk/church/sjcross/sjinternt.htm You should find this information below and we believe this group is the one that granted Day's knighthood, whether they know about it or not. The Order is incorporated in the State of New York. The much older Order of the Knights of St. John of Malta is still very much in existence, however, the Order of the Knights of Saint John International is in no way associated with that group but are often mistaken to be. NB "often mistaken to be"
UPDATE
We thought it was time to display Brian Day's AAB83 pages we have been quoting.
AAB83 Transfers and Detachments 1961 - 1972.
The 4th entry shows his March 66 posting to SAS and the next entry shows him posted to HQ AFV (Saigon), Jan 67. This entry suggests he spent 10 months at 1 SAS as a signaller and went to Vietnam as a SAS Trooper. Day did NOT complete the SAS Cadre course and was infact sent to 1 RAR on 30 June 1966 as shown below on a CARO Master file document and from there he was posted to HQ AFV on 28 Jan 67 as ECN 175 (Batman) and arrived in country 30 Jan 67.
What was left off his AAB83 (above) is a posting to 1RAR in June 66 between the 1SAS and HQ AFV postings. This may have inadvertantly been left off his AAB83 entries, however the writing shown above appears to indicate that all entries were done by the same person from 1961 through to 1968. Did he perhaps have a "camp follower" who was capable of doing the AAB83 entries and was coincidentally posted with Day to all of these areas?
The 7th entry on the left hand side of this promotion document shows it, others do as well. His posting to HQ AFV as a Batman, ECN 175 is noted as is the 1ARU posting as a Rifleman, ECN 757. This document below is raised at CARO level and is accurately transcribed from his master documents, not from an AAB83 carried at unit level, that could be altered by a company clerk or even the member if he had knowledge of the entries. Blank AAB83 were held in all units and the book, or pages from the book could easily be obtained from the Chief Clerk or the Regimental Quartermaster. The AAB83 was NOT a controlled document, therefore anyone could obtain relevant pages and replace existing ones if the occasion arose.
Another couple of AAB83 entries that are completely different to what his other documents reveal.
On the document below the 1st entry, top left hand corner, SAS Para Wings 20 April 66 and the second entry of qualifying as a marksman on 4 weapons on the one day. Further investigation of the CARO master file records is being conducted to ascertain the RO2 numbers for these entries are correct. Both entries appear similar in handwriting but again are years apart as entries.
Note the last entry on this AAB83 above.
"Approved to wear Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm"
Routine Order number "INF 02/0398/73"
This denotes a personal award of the medal of the Cross of Gallantry.
Now look at the 4th entry on his Record of Service 8 March 73.
"54H=Unit Citation of the Viet Cross of Gallantry with Palm"
Routine Order number "INF 02/0398/73" The same RO number as the one above. A personal award and a unit citation lumped under the same RO number? The document below is off his master file held at CARO as indicated by the form number top left hand corner.
AATTV personnel have approval to wear the unit citation.
In March 1973 Brian Day was a Sgt with 8RAR and we believe in a position to arrange what went into his AAB83 and what didn't.
An AAB83 is useful for "information at a glance" but every entry must be supported by unit documents and a B103 Record of Service. We are reliably informed by members who were on the posted strength of CARO that the information we have provided above is correct and that information used by any service person should be obtained from the master files held at CARO and not from unit raised documentation. The bottom line is this. If the information is not supported by a stand alone Routine Order Part 2 authorising number issued by CARO, the entry is not valid. A check of the master files to ascertain if the RO2 numbers depicted in the AAB83 entries is now being done and the results will be shown here at a later date.
From: Infantry
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 7:47 PM To: information@anzmi.net Subject: Brian Day CV or Bio or whatever
ANZMI. You have quoted a section of Brian Day's CV and there's been a lot of emails getting around about this.
Can we see the complete thing, the version that you have got?
Thanks. Infantry.
ANZMI reply.
This below is what was offered in an email from an executive officer of the Blue Mountains Vietnam Veteran's group of the time, 1999.
This list of "Brian's achievements" is supposed to be an abridged version.
Apart from what we have already shown to be false, we'll leave it up to you to determine what's fact and what isn't.
The inclusions of Day's health problems were not removed as they were seen fit by the executive officer for inclusion, also we don't edit information.
1961 - Enlisted in the Australian Army and posted to 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment;
1963 - Deployed to Malaya and Borneo; 1965 - Returned from active service; 1967 - Posted to HQ Australian Forces Vietnam - Australian Army Training Team Vietnam, US Special Forces; 1971 - Second tour of Vietnam, Headquarters Australian Forces Vietnam - Australian Army Training Team Vietnam;
1981 - Retired from Australian Army after 20 years service;
1982 - Research Officer for Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia at Agent Orange Court Case in New York; 1983 - Research Officer at Chemical Warfare Conference in Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City; 1983 - Research Officer at Chemical Warfare Conference in USSR; 1983 - Expert witness at the Senate Enquiry into herbicides and pesticides used in Vietnam, Canberra; 1983 -1986 - Expert witness at the Agent Orange Royal Commission in Canberra; 1986 - 1996 - Joined Department of Foreign affairs as an Advisor to Vietnamese Aid Projects, including being the Australian Representative on Project "Red Crescent", for the return of Soviet POW's from the Afghan War; 1987 - Awarded the "Knight of Grace, Sovereign Order of St John Hospitalier", for his service to Humanity; 1988 - Awarded Doctorate of Human Sciences from the Academy of Science in London; 1989 - Awarded Doctorate of Letters from the Institute of Applied Science in London;
1989 - Suffered five (5) heart attacks within one (1) month;
1990 - Underwent by-pass heart surgery; 1994 - Awarded Doctorate of Literature from Kensington University, California, USA; 1995 - Achieved acceptance of US decorations and awards for the Vietnam War for Australian ex-service personnel; 1998 - Achieved acceptance of Vietnamese and Cambodian decorations Australian ex-service personnel; 1998 - Successfully lobbied the NSW State Government to have the "Soldier's Travel Pass" granted to all disabled Australian ex-service personnel in NSW; 1998 - Successfully lobbied the NSW State Government for the exemption of Transfer fees and Stamp Duty on the purchase of motor vehicles for Totally and Permanently Incapacitated Soldiers (TPI's) in NSW. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ UPDATE. What follows is a translation of the Brian Day Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm citation. (personal award) The translation is a combination of the work of two men, one an Australian who is reasonably fluent in Vietnamese and one a Vietnamese who is quite fluent in English. Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy. We won't comment on the authenticity of the document in its entirety, we'll leave this to the experts who we have called on for their expertise. The simple fact is that this citation is very clear in relating the brave/gallant actions that supposedly occurred, culminating in a document that was accepted by some as proof positive of Day's entitlement to wear the medal. Briefly; 1...Brian Day and his trainee soldiers caused many enemy casualties during an ambush near PLEIME, PLEIKU, 16-17 June 71 while it has been reliably reported that Day hardly had time to grasp the details of his administrative role before moving on to Phu Cat. We have been unable to find anyone who can verify that Day was training Montagnard troops or was involved in any ambushing of the enemy. 2...Brian Day saved two Montagnard soldiers on 21 June 71 by personally carrying them from a minefield after they had been injured, this action occurred in an un-named part of 2 Corps (MR2) Again, we can't find anyone to verify this action, it would have been very well documented as the previous action, the ambush, would have been. (Brian Day at Pleiku, 14-22 June 71) 3...On 1 August 1971 in the proximity of Phu Cat, Brian Day, assisted by an American Officer, saved the lives of a wounded Vietnamese woman and her unborn child. We will stand corrected but if the reference to Team 89 refers to MACV Team 89, they were based in Phuoc Tuy Province. At the time there should have been another team in Binh Dinh Province, perhaps MACV Team 42. (Day at Phu Cat, 23 June to November 71) The full translation follows. Warrant Officer : Day Brian Raymond, Army number: 215849, Royal Australian Military Forces. During the period 16-6-71 to 17-6-71 Warrant Officer Day Brian Raymond was commanding a mechanical ambush to the North-West of PLEIME military outpost, PLEIKU sector Tactical District (zone, region) 2, causing many enemy casualties. 21-6-1971, on patrol with Montagnard soldiers in an area of Military District 2 when 2 forward observers (scouts?) were wounded in an old unknown minefield, Warrant Officer Day without regard for himself carried the nearest soldier to safety...using a bayonet he entered the minefield for 20 yards and carried the other soldier on his back to safety....with the help of Warrant Officer JACKSON (he) had both soldiers evacuated by helicopter. At about 2030 hrs on 1-8-71 in night operations with team 89 in the Chi Khu area of Phu Cat, Binh Dinh sector, Military District 2, Warrant Officer Day revealed that a heavily pregnant woman had been wounded by the enemy. Assisted by Lieutenant MANNING they gallantly and without regard for themselves conveyed the victim 8 miles through dangerous territory to the Air Force dispensary at Phu Cat airport, both mother and child were saved. His actions bring credit upon himself and the Royal Australian Army. THIS PROCLAMATION OF MERIT IS ENCLOSED WITH THE GALLANTRY DECORATION "With Palm" (ANZMI...the term "mechanical ambush" refers to an ambush employing banks of Claymore mines and was in common usage at the time) (ANZMI...the measurements, "yards" and "miles" were used in the original citation. A Vietnamese word for "yard", ma~, and the English word "miles"
Sent: Sunday, March 05, 2006
To: information@anzmi.net Subject: Day records
I saw the section on the Brian Day board about his AAB 83 records and noticed something on the bottom of two of these. It's a clipped on piece of paper with the repeated word "expunged" on it. Is this something you do or did the documents come to anzmi like this?
ANZMI reply.
Thanks for your question. Only records details 30 or more years old are permitted to be sent to, or viewed by, the general public under the Privacy Act, information on those two pages is both outside and inside this 30 year limit.
National Archives of Australia personnel cover the entries that cannot be viewed at the time the documents are photocopied. Those records were requested some time ago and that's why we only see entries up to 1973.
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From: Anonymous
Sent: Wednesday, 8 March 2006 2:12 PM To: anzmi Subject: Brian Day Importance: High
The citation recently posted on ANZMI Web Site allegedly involving WO2 B. R. Day is, at the best, inaccurate.
WO2 B. R. Day was not involved in any enemy action while posted to Night Operational Training Team Military Region 2 (NOTT MR2) as an Asst Admin during June 1971.
He arrived in Pleiku city by air on 14 June 1971 and departed for Phu Cat by road on 23 June 1971 to prepare for the reception of an enlarged NOTT. He may have visited Plei Me with an instructional team as a prelude to assuming his administrative duties. He did not instruct in mechanical ambushing and never patrolled with or commanded Montagnard troops or any other for that matter.
ANZMI reply.
Thank you very much for your input.
The actions at Pleime and Pleiku noted on Day's citation have now been well and truly denied. This writer above knows what he's talking about and his input should be quite sufficient for all of us to now seriously question the decision of the Department of Defence to list Brian Day's personal award of the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm as being genuine. Day's US Bronze Star for Meritorious Service should be equally questioned.
SCMA, formerly CARO, should be queried as to why these awards appear on Brian Day's Certificate of Service dated March 2001.
We found an almost identical event to what is noted as his gallant action at Phu Cat involving "Team 89".
We have a copy of an internet posted photograph that was taken by a Team 89 member of other Team members in Phuoc Tuy Province where the team was based, not Binh Dinh Province. The text explains that what is pictured is a wounded Vietnamese woman being loaded into a vehicle by an Australian Warrant
Officer while a US Army Officer called for a Dust off, the woman was then driven to an LZ for evacuation.
Fact reproduced and elaborated on years later in Day's gallantry citation fiction:
"At about 2030 hrs on 1-8-71 in night operations with team 89 in the Chi Khu area of Phu Cat, Binh Dinh sector, Military District 2, Warrant Officer Day revealed that a heavily pregnant woman had been wounded by the enemy. Assisted by Lieutenant MANNING they gallantly and without regard for themselves conveyed the victim 8 miles through dangerous territory to the Air Force dispensary at Phu Cat airport, both mother and child were saved"
Perhaps it's now time to delve deeper into Brian Day's claims of working with MACV SOG and the Phoenix Program.
Below is a verbatim excerpt from the John Pilger book "A Secret Country" page 173. Before you read it you must be aware that Brian Day has privately denied the Pilger information attributed to him. In an earlier post on this page you'll see that he stated he was "misquoted" in many publications and was advised that he should set matters straight with the publishers. We are not aware of any public notices issued by Brian Day regarding all these "misquotes"
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Pilger wrote:
Brian Day, an Australian Warrant Officer, was in charge of a death squad, known as a "hatchet team" and a "black team", He described its operational methods.
Pilger quotes Brian Day; "The black team was usually given a mission of a target figure, a target figure being a person who was suspected of selling out to the enemy or being a double agent, or someone who the province chief suspected of black marketeering and therefore affecting the war effort. He would be numbered, he would be pinpointed and at an opportune time a black team would go out, usually dressed in the enemy's gear, carrying enemy equipment, and then of course the next day you'd read a report where the VC had annihilated a particular person"
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To the best of our knowledge, the only people who were advised that this introduction and quote were Pilger fabrications and not of his doing, were those who had valid reasons under an authority to question him directly. Anyone else who questions Day's service or offers information denying his claims can look forward to the threat of a lawsuit.
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From: Infantry
Sent: Wednesday, 8 March 2006 3:04 AM To: information@anzmi.net Subject: Day Citation Importance: High
From Infantry.
ANZMI. You fellas are slipping up, you didn't tell us the date that Brian Day's citation was approved and you didn't tell us who approved it either.
ANZMI reply.
Thanks for your interest and you are entirely correct, our apologies.
Brian Day's alleged citation for gallantry was dated 10/06/72 which was not the way the South Vietnamese Military wrote dates. It should have been written as "ngay 10...thang 06...nam 1972 with the words typed and the numbers added by whoever signed and sealed the document.
The approval for the award, according to the citation, was given by someone who appears to have been the Commanding General of the ARVN at the time, General Cao Van Vien. Why someone of this stature would be involved in signing a citation for an Australian Warrant Officer is beyond us. One remaining fact is that copies were sent to Vietnamese and US Army offices but HQ AFV was not on the list. Why?
All this is just further evidence, in our minds, that the citation is not worth the paper it was photocopied onto.
Please don't ask us how a document signed two months after Brian Day returned to Australia came into his possession because we don't have a clue.
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-----Original Message-----
From: Infantry Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 8:27 AM To: information@anzmi.net Subject: Days PHD and post nominals ANZMI. after making extensive inquiries, any person who has been granted by study at a 'proper' university (usually one that is funded by Government and meets certain academic criteria) is entitled to place PH D after their name, and be called DR.
However, an individual who has obtained a degree etc, and PH D, from an NON recognised institution, there is no impediment to that person from having Dr or PH D on their CV, Business card etc.........
So Day, can if he wants do that.........but the real PH Ds would know.....that its a false recognition.
ANZMI reply.
Thanks for your input.
______________________________________________________________________ ANZMI. You'll remember this news article from further up this page but we'd like you to re-read Brian Day's version of an event which appears to have actually occurred. Now read the following email. From: US Special Forces. Concerning the exploits of Brian Day while assigned to the FANK Program: I was the executive officer of the UITG (Headquartered in Bien Hoa) from mid '71 untill November of 71, when I was assigned as the deputy commander of the Phuoc Tuy Training Battalion. I remained with PTTB untill April of '72 when I returned to the states. None of the three active camps suffered the kind of casualties mentioned by Day, and the battalions never operated in Cambodia untill they had completed training and were returned to their home country. There is a grain of truth in the errant rocket incident. We had three of our cambodian battalions gathered on a hillside in a secure area, and we were presenting a class on the employment of aerial fire support. The scenario included the insertion of a recon team onto the side of the mountain a couple of miles away. The soldiers were listening to calls for fire over a loudspeaker system, and watching the resultant fire missions from the Cobras. When the training objectives had been accomplished the recon team called for extraction by slick, and then cleared the Cobras to expend the remainder of their ordnance into the impact area. On the last run, the fins of a 17# HE rocket failed to deploy, and the round did a "loop-the-loop" and landed amongst one of the Cambode battalions. I don't remember the exact numbers, but it seems that more than 20 were killed, and more than twice that many wounded. We nearly had a full scale revolt on our hands. The Cambodians were demanding that they be allowed to kill a like number of US & Australians. Our Camp Commander, Jack Griffith, was in Hawaai on R&R so I was in command. For a time, it truly looked like we were going to have a full fledged fire fight with our Cambodes. The issue wasn't resolved untill General Pak Se Man (Lon Nol's brother) arrived with his senior entourage and got things settled down. I had the greatest respect for the Aussies I served with in the FANK program, and even moreso for those who served in the mobile strike and mobile geurrilla forces in I Corps in 66-67. Major, USA Special Forces Retired ANZMI reply. Thanks for this information, now we have another apparently true incident that Brian Day has claimed involvement in. There were no US Army after action reports or studies found that mentioned this incident but that doesn't mean they don't exist and it didn't occur. On the other hand, there is ample evidence to show that Brian Day once again embellished his war service.
From:1 RTB Recruit
Sent: Monday, 10 April 2006 To: guestbook@anzmi.net
comments = Day was my platoon sergeant in November 1968 at 20 Platoon Delta company 1RTB and at that time he was wearing SASR para wings and 'impressing' his young charges with tales of great personal heroism in SVN. Not surprised to see his outing. Keep up the good work.
ANZMI reply
Thanks for the information and encouragement.
We took the above from our guestbook for those who are following the Brian Day situation closely.
As a reminder, Brian Day was a Batman-Driver and Infantry Reinforcement Instructor in Vietnam prior to 1968.
This is published in the public interest, particularly that of the Vietnam Veteran Community. All information presented here is fact and the truth. Reports from private citizens are supported by statements of fact and statutory declarations. |
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