Normally when we do
an update on one of our site entries the update is
included at the end of the story to allow you to
read all about the subject prior to the update. In
this instance we feel that by reading the update
below it will give you a feel of those who have been
conned at some stage by a fraud. It is obvious from
the comments below that the incident referred to is
still painfully embedded in the mind of this person
and to read what has been done to him and his fellow
Brothers in Arms is unforgivable. In essence this
person went out of his way to assist Kevin "Mother"
Quick, thinking he was a genuine Veteran who had a
genuine reason to be claiming for DVA repatriation.
Indeed what Quick has done is unforgivable and in
due course we can only hope that the DVA and the
Judicial system get it right and award the
appropriate punishment to fit the crime.
After reading this
story go back to the cases pages and then read all
about Brain, Stevens and Fancourt and look at the
amount of money fraudulently obtained by these
people. But wait there are more to come, we just
cant advise you of their names right now. You will
have to wait until they have been brought down and
are on the public record as Quick now is, before we
can highlight them on these pages and highlight them
we will.
There are some that
are saying that by ANZMI exposing these frauds that
it is slowing down the compensation and
rehabilitation claims for genuine veterans. This is
complete rubbish. The DVA are as aware as we are of
the frauds out there. The time frame between
Vietnam and now and checking of the claims of all
veterans need to be verified before payments are
made or what you are about to read can and does
happen.
If you are a
veteran who has a claim in and it is taking a
long time to process then you could be caught up
in this exhaustive check that the department has
to do. We suggest that you gather all of the
information possible and support it with stat
decs from others who were there at the time of
the incident , war diaries and incident reports,
facts from historical books etc before having
your advocate lodge your claim. The more
information you can supply the quicker it is for
the department to verify your claim. DONT BLAME
THE DEPARTMENT FOR BEING SLOW. It is people
like the one you about to read about that need
to be caught out so that they are not stealing
what is rightfully your entitlement for
rehabilitation for genuine service.
Eliminating them from the equation prior to
receiving payments is far easier than the
massive amount of work that has to be done to
recover monies paid. Monies that should be
directed to the deserving veteran and not the
fraud.
OPERATION
"MASSEY HARRIS" - THE AFTERMATH
Gents,
I have waited 15 long years for this.
In 1987, I was asked to represent a D&E Platoon
veteran in an appeal to the VRB. The grounds for
appeal were that his spinal injury occurred as a
result of him being blown off XXXX XXXXX's callsign
during Operation MASSEY HARRIS in 1970.
All the medical evidence supported the contention
that the veteran’s medical condition was as a result
of that mine contact.
I made enquiries with XXXX XXXXX who very kindly
provided me with documentary evidence.
XXXX XXXXXX -God rest his soul - supplied a formal
Statement of Facts.
We fought the Repat tooth and nail and we won. The
VRB held that the veteran’s injuries were war-caused
and that the Commonwealth was liable.
The matter was then adjourned for a rehab assessment
to be carried out by the Commonwealth Rehab Service
to determine the extent of damage in respect of rate
of pension.
This took about another 12 months, during which time
the veteran and his family were evicted from their
rented home due to his inability to make rental
payments.
I hit the system with a Ministerial after getting
the run-around from the SMO Appeals. We went back to
the Board in Aug 1988 and fought our corner again.
We won – the veteran was granted a 100% disability
pension and that was the end of that.
In 1991, I again met the veteran and his family when
I took my
wife and our boys down to the coast for a
long weekend.
While there, I saw certain things.
As a consequence of seeing those things, I made an
approach to the Registrar of the VRB in
Canberra; himself a D&E Pl veteran 1970-71 who lost
some good mates on 84B during “Overlord.”
Legal advice was given by the Registrar to the
effect that my conversations with the veteran in
question were and are, privileged, and there was
nothing that could be done. Essentially what the
Registrar said, was that if I did , I would not only
be breaching privilege but the Privacy Act
provisions (the IPPs) and worst of all , my
reputation as a person whom veteran's could confide
in and trust, would be shattered. That was
absolutely not acceptable to me. I am very familiar
with the Privacy Act and the IPPs but to have my
reputation hammered - no way. Therefore I was
forced to back off. This advice was confirmed by my
Learned Colleague.
Years went by and this veteran was seen in various
places – he was photographed for the Welcome Home
Book ISBN 0 7316 3946 4 (p.117 in a wheelchair in
the march, carrying the 1 ATF placard)
and the Vietnam Memorial Book
"Australian Vietnam Forces Memorial" ISBN 0 646
12442 0
at page 132, photo No F13-28 standing unaided, no
crutches, with members of D&E Pl;
at page 150 standing
unaided with members of D&E Pl; photo No F13-30;
at page 153, photo No F13-13 standing upright with
members of D&E Pl) .
Then, in 2002 I swapped emails with a good mate who
directed me to a particular website.
What I saw there floored me completely and I again
approached the VRB this time to seek further legal
advice on this matter.
The VRB again confirmed the constraints of the
privileged nature of the matter in respect of my
conversations with the client and I again found
myself hamstrung. Privilege attaches win, lose, or
draw and this was reinforced during my Vets Law 1
and 2 courses I did in 2004.
In
October 2002, I attended the Vietnam Memorial 10th
anniversary Re-dedication service and march in
Canberra. The RAAC contingent went back to the
Canberra Club for our luncheon. It was only a matter
of weeks since I had seen the shattering
revelations. I saw the bloke at the Canberra Club.
He was alone and looking very sad and forlorn - it
was obvious to me that he knew he had been outed.
No one went near him and I watched him until he
disappeared. No one spoke to him or went near him
the whole time he was in my field of view. At no
time did he, whilst under my observation, resort to
the use of crutches or a walking stick. I felt
soiled. I did not consider it appropriate to front
him as I was with my wife, and my mates and their
wives. I knew somewhere down the track, it would
come back to bite him big time. And it has.
Late last year I
was contacted by DVA's Director of Investigations
regarding this bloke – I can’t even bring myself to
call him a vet any more.
I could not discuss the matter due to privilege
and the Director Investigations sought further
legal advice. As a result of that advice, I
was able to provide a statement without compromising
privilege.
On Monday 13 Feb 2006,
Kevin Lionel Quick appeared in Queanbeyan Court,
ACT,
charged with defrauding the Commonwealth in the
amount of $300,000 dollars (pension payments). Quick
did not enter a plea and has been remanded to Burwood Court for 20 March
2006 as he is now purportedly
living up there.
Somewhere down the track, he had finally been given
a TPI pension –how he got that I have no idea.
My contact with him ceased after that long weekend
in 1991.
Here is what I learned after I was directed to that
website:
Quick was not on XXXX XXXXX's track the day XXXX and
the others were wounded.
He was in country.
He did not go outside the wire for his entire tour.
He was a batman at HQ 1 ATF.
He also told all and sundry he was there the day XXX
XXXXXXXX and the others were killed in June 1971. He
was NOT. He RTA’d in late May 1971 and wasn’t even
in country when that contact occurred.
He deceived me and some very eminent surgeons and
neurologists.
I am trained not only to the civil standard of
proof, but also the criminal standard and I couldn’t
fault his instructions. One thing I do when
listening to a client I don't know, is to look for
the inconsistency - if I find it I will not continue
to represent that person. I have no intention of
ruining my reputation or good name.
Thus far, over 30 interviews with various non-RAAC
veterans have gone that way. I will not represent
people from a particular part of NSW.
This bloke deceived a lot of people including his
lovely wife and sons. They knew nothing else - he
told the story from the time he first met his wife.
He will lose not only his disability pension but any
assets he has, as the Commonwealth intends to seek
full restitution.
This particular matter is the one which drove me to
within a poofteenth of an inch of giving the
Advocacy game away for good – and I am still tempted
to do just that.
I was totally shattered and was helpless to say or
do anything until thankfully, DVA's Chief
Investigator contacted me out of the blue.
I spoke with the DVA Investigator and he said that
as the matter is now public, he has no objection to
me putting this info up on the site for general
consumption.
In conclusion, this matter left me with a very
bitter taste in my mouth and the taste still
lingers.
This bloke not only betrayed those closest to him,
but every other veteran who served, suffered and
died, including the WIAs on XXXX’s track in 1970 and
the KIAs and their NOK on XXX’s track in 1971.
Hopefully, my telling this will lay to rest the
ghosts and bitterness this case has left.
If I appear somewhat reluctant to get involved in
things these days, it is because of squeezers like
this cove.
XXXXXX, thanks heaps mate for pointing me in the
right direction.
Now finally,
justice has been done for all those deceived and for
all the WIAs and KIAs.
XXXX, all I can
say to you and all the others is I’m very sorry –we
were all ripped off but you and your guys on
“The Nympho” and those on 84B and all of the
families, were used and abused the most.
God bless you all.
Now having
read that we say again. The Department of Veterans
Affairs and ANZMI highlighting these frauds on the
internet are not slowing down claims for payment.
It is people such as Quick, plucking actual events
and turning them around to include themselves for
personal gain of rehabilitation benefits that are to
blame. The Department has to be extremely careful
when doing their assessments of your claims in an
attempt to stop such events, as you are about to
read, from slipping through the cracks. Remember
those assessing your claim are not veterans and
ramblings such as Quick can slip through. You can
see how cunningly it has been done to a genuine
veteran advocate above, who looked for
inconsistencies in stories. It slipped by him, a
genuine veteran who has been there and done that and
was on the lookout for this type of thing, so the
departments claims assessors, who have not seen
service in Vietnam, have to be even more alert to
the frauds and official records take time to
check.
We can only stress again that you seek out
as much information as you can concerning your
claims and back it all up with stat decs from people
who were there at the time and documented history
before your advocate lodges the claim. The more
you supply for the department to verify your claim
the faster it will be approved. We cannot stress
this enough. as Army people say PPPPPPP.
Now read on and see exactly why Quick
is facing up to 300 counts of fraud against the
Department of Veterans Affairs amounting to
$300,000.
In Sydney,
in, or around, August 1992 a group of Veterans were
asked to provide written stories of their tours for
possible inclusion in Army Magazine. The
majority of the Veterans told the Army reporter to go
and write his own stories. Kevin Quick was the
exception and he wrote or narrated a tale entitled, 'One
Man's War'.
He has since claimed that the reporter took
"journalistic license" with the story.
Maybe so, these things happen, but the basis of this
work of fiction is Quick's.
Please read this article first for an understanding of
what can be told by someone that has lived a lie since
1971 and has worked hard at giving "truth"
to his lies.
Army
newspaper Article
This article was not an attempt to
publish a dramatic work of fiction, or some excitement
for young Soldiers. It was his attempt to enhance his
War Service and give validity to the lies that he has
been telling and living since returning home in 1971.
On being challenged via e-mail to deny what he claims
are facts, he simply stated, 'Everyone has their
faults'. This was mail from a former D&E Platoon
member to him and his reply. Again on being
challenged by former Platoon members at a reunion,
about his article and a subsequent poem written by
him, he said all the records and contemporary
newspaper reports were wrong. (where have we heard
that before?) He said he really was a member of
the Platoon and was involved in the Armoured Personnel
Carrier (APC) incident his story 'highlights',
although he placed it in the wrong part of Phuoc Tuy
Province.
Five e-mails were sent to him asking that he deny his
story and apologise to former Platoon members.
All five went unanswered.
The writer personally sent three, CMPH sent two.
CPMH and former Platoon members have looked at this
article, "One Man's War", and have torn it
apart, separating the facts from the fiction using
archived Army records and documents that are now
readily available to any member of the general public.
A volunteer serviceman?
NO. He was conscripted (drafted).
He arrived in SVN in June 1970? NO.
It was May 1970.
He was posted to 1 ARU, the reinforcement unit?
YES.
A mortar course 'under his belt'? NO.
This phrase suggests that he passed a course when in
fact he failed.
Mortar
Course Report
Note the general remarks in the course
report.
'He failed to assimilate instruction and is very slow
to react. He tends to wilt when under pressure.'
In essence these remarks say, 'Make him a batman, a
storeman, a dishwasher, a barman, but don't take him
out on patrol, he'll be a liability.' An
Infantry section in the field relies heavily on each
member of the patrol backing each other up in the
event of a fire fight. At a time like this the
pressure is extreme and no member of the team can
afford to fail his mates.
He told the Sergeant that he wanted to go back to
[even though he had never been in one before] a
Battalion with his mates and 'get into it - mix it',
because he wanted to wear the "Skippy
Badge", the hat badge of the Royal Australian
Regiment, Infantry. He already had one, as did
every other Infantryman who was posted to a Battalion
or overseas.
He wrote about POGOS [Personnel on Garrison
Operations], a derogatory term used for base camp
personnel. He was one, as you will discover.
He spent two weeks in hospital due to a minor kidney
ailment, June 1970? NOT QUITE RIGHT.
His records show one week, long enough for diagnosis
but not treatment and cure.
Hospital
Entry
He was posted to D&E Platoon, HQ Coy,
1 ATF? HALF TRUE. He was posted to the
Company, not the Platoon. The Soldiers were
assigned their duties on arrival.
He arrived at the Company on 25 June. Impossible
for him to have been an 'Old Hand of five months' on
29 August 1970, the first day of Operation Massey
Harris.
He was a machine gunner in D&E Platoon and was
actively engaged in patrolling and ambushing ?
NO. In fact, he spent THREE days on the strength
of the Platoon; the mornings of 26, 27 and 28 June for
roll call. In the remarks column of the Platoon
attendance roll against his name appears the notation,
"TO BATMAN." The same roll book
contains a listing of all HQ Coy Batman, Kevin Quick
is shown as commencing as a batman in this section on
29 June 1970.
So on the morning of 29 June, he was officially a
BATMAN and on their attendance roll.
A BATMAN assisted officers' by cleaning their tents,
making their beds, shining their boots, making their
coffee and doing all the mundane chores that a busy
officer had no time for. It was a full time
duty. There were no civilian personnel on the
base for this purpose. Batmen were required, but
there was no extreme pressure placed on them.
Maybe someone read his Mortar Course report.
He was later transferred to duties in the
Quartermaster's Store as a storeman.
D&E Platoon carried out a variety of tasks,
patrolling, ambushing, VIP protection, Task Force
ready-reaction, etc. YES.
After a long period of heavy action he was moved to
the Platoons HQ protection section (squad)? NO.
Firstly there was no such section or unit.
Secondly, he was allocated to the strength to (of) the
Platoon for only THREE days. D&E Platoon was
out on operations in the vicinity of Xuyen Moc during
this period of time, no patrolling or bush work for
Mother Quick!
D&E Platoon Soldiers carried non-standard issue
(Jack) weapons and a greater amount of fully automatic
weapons than those carried by a Battalion Platoon?
YES. That's true but who could 'sneak' a weapon
out on patrol?
According to "Mother" he was wounded when
the APC, call sign 13A, "The Nympho", was
moving back to base from Operation "Massey
Harris" in the Courtney rubber plantation.
[refer back to the Army Magazine article] NO.
He was not wounded here or anywhere else whilst in
South Viet Nam.
He probably still doesn't know this, but Operation
"Massey Harris" took place in the southeast
corner of the province. The armoured vehicles
were moving to the AO, not back from the
operation near Binh Tuy Province on 29 August 1970.
The De Courtenay, not Courtney, (Quick's spelling is
wrong) rubber plantation was in the extreme north of
the Province and straddled the border with Long Khanh
Province on route 2.
A complete and accurate list of the names of those
Australian Soldiers wounded during Operation
"Massey Harris" and taken to hospital is in
our possession. No Kevin Lionel Quick and no
civilians are on the casualty list.
Twelve (12) were injured, two (2) remained on duty, 10
were dusted off to 1 AFH. [1st Australian Field
Hospital]; two (2) of these D&E Soldiers
eventually joined the Platoon in the field again
whilst the APC Driver was also able to take up his
normal duties. D&E Platoon members have the
names of these 10 personnel.
Quick has combined two APC / D&E incidents that
incurred loss of life. The first occasion being
August 1970, Operation "Massey Harris" and
the second during June 1971, Operation
"Overlord" near the De Courtenay rubber
plantation. Forty (40) kilometres as the crow
flies and 10 months apart. It's possible that he
concocted this combination to avoid hard questions as
to where he was supposedly injured and incurred his
loss of hearing, spinal injury, PTSD and hypertension.
He had in fact, returned to Australia in May 1971.
One month before the De Courtenay plantation / D&E
incident.
return
to Aus Doc
The Bushman (Kit Carson) Scout was killed?
YES.
The scout was indeed killed but his name was Thanh,
not Chang. Quick's poem dedicated to the scout
raised some anger when it and the Army Magazine
article were displayed at a Company reunion.
A badly wounded Soldier moved by truck over 30
miles of bad to average road to Nui Dat or 45 miles to
Vung Tau? This claim alone is enough to
brand this individual as a liar of the first order and
the truth of the matter is explained below . This is
one of the most outlandish stories ever dished out by
a Veteran and an insult to the Australian Army of the
time.
ALL wounded were taken to 1st Australian Field
Hospital, Vung Tau, on two Dustoffs, [helicopters].
No injured personnel, civilian or military, were moved
from the location by any other means. There have
been claims by others to the contrary, but these above
are the facts on how the wounded were evacuated.
Quick was a Veteran's counsellor in Canberra?
YES. He is well remembered by one Veteran who
heard the Nympho story often.
So much for his article in the Army Magazine, some
facts regarding the Platoon - yes, but basically the
rest is bunkum.
His records show that he was in hospital in November
1970 for a week but no mention of treatment on or
around 29 August 1970, the date of the Nympho
incident.
hospital
record 2
Many records of the time can be wrong but they can't
be so consistently wrong as in the case of this
individual.
We have a declaration from another Veteran who was
told by Quick, that he damaged his back while working
at the Australian Embassy in Hanoi, post 1975 and was
unable to receive compensation. The member who
has related this information has supplied a statutory
declaration to this fact.
He is in receipt of the highest Veterans' pension
available in Australia, payable due to his supposed
war caused injuries and disabilities.
How was he able to get away with this deception for 30
years, all the while enhancing his War Service and
profile in the Veteran community?
Unlike a Battalion posting which would give a fair
indication of a Soldier's duties, a posting to HQ Coy
1 ATF did not. No matter what duties these Soldiers
finally carried out, they were all posted as ECN-343,
Rifleman.
Infantry Soldiers arrived at the Company and were
assigned duties ranging through clerk, storeman,
barman, batman, mess steward, dixie basher
(dishwasher) or bush Soldier with D&E Platoon.
D&E carried out any duties required by the
Brigadier as stated in Quick's article and other
duties that he was/is not aware of. The Platoon
was known as 'The Brigadiers Own' also 'Hawke Force'.
He wasn't aware of those names either.
The existence of the Platoon was relatively unknown to
others at the Task Force base and it's only in the
last 10 years that the operations of the Platoon have
come to light.
Also over the last 10 years, quite a few base duty or
logistics support soldiers have claimed former
membership of D&E Platoon for a variety of
reasons. War Service enhancement for personal
gain would be the main one.
Quick had appeared at Veterans reunions in a
wheelchair and wearing the Infantry Combat Badge,
(ICB).
The wheelchair use could not have been due to war
wounds, he was never wounded but he gave that
impression.
He is not entitled to wear the ICB
medal
entitlement here
Uninvited,
he attended school lectures conducted by other Veterans
and after interrupting the lecturers, went on to speak
about his own 'fictional' experiences with VC tunnel
complexes and his time as a bush soldier. One
D&E member recalls these experiences as he was there
at the time and witnessed this on two occasions.
He wasn't asked to be there, but turned up anyway and
'took over' the lectures being given.
Quick had received mail, asking for confirmation or
denial of his story, just prior to the Re-dedication of
the Viet Nam Memorial at Canberra in 2002. Quick
DID NOT appear at the ceremony.
At other gatherings since 1987 he was seen at the
forefront of every group photo and march. He
helped carry the Platoon banner in these marches, walking
without the aid of his wheelchair - a miraculous
recovery perhaps!!
Carrying the D&E Platoon banner, assisted by his
son, during the 1993 Anzac Day march in Sydney would
have been difficult for a fit man due to a headwind, let
alone "Mother". There were no pressure
release cutouts on the banner but he managed quite well.
He, also, showed no signs of a back injury after
carrying the banner during a march at the original
dedication of the Viet Nam memorial in Canberra during
October, 1992.
He then kept the banner for his own use, whatever that
may have been, for nine years, until he was tracked down
and requested to hand it over to D&E members. It is
now in their safekeeping. Actual Platoon members were naďve
at the time and did not realise that he was setting up
photographic and video evidence of his acceptance into
the ranks of Platoon members.
The final sentences of his article are touching.
His story is not spectacular. ('I was just a baggy
arse' he says. 'There were no awards, no
citations. Just another soldier, one of many who
spent some time in D&E Platoon'). The term
"Baggy Arse" was used to refer to soldiers
with the rank of Private.
What is the final determination of this Veteran's War
Service?
HE WAS NOT: a volunteer soldier, a mortar man, an M60
machine gunner, a signalman, a bush soldier, wounded, or
an unacclaimed minor hero.
HE WAS a National Service soldier who carried out
mundane base duties during his time with HQ Coy, 1 ATF.
Welcome to the site Kevin "Mother" Quick.
Your actions have denigrated the War Service of all your
fellow Veterans. You have defiled the memory of
those who gave their lives in Service to our country and
those who have passed on since.
If any of our readers know of anyone who has claimed
former membership of D&E Platoon, HQ Coy, 1 ATF, Nui Dat
and have doubts about the persons stories, especially
stories of Operations "Massey Harris" and "Overlord",
please contact ANZMI
information@anzmi.net
5 JAN 2008
On the 20th of
December 2007 Kevin Quick was sentenced to two years
jail, with a three year good behaviour bond - he is
to serve three months in jail and on release should
he breach the bond within three years will return to
jail to complete the two year sentence
At long last a custodial sentence has been imposed
on a Veteran for misrepresenting his service to gain
financial advantage from the Department of Veterans
Affairs. ANZMI applauds all those who made this possible
especially those members of Defence and Employment
Platoon who assisted us in our original exposure of
Kevin Quick.
When further details
come to hand with regard to the recovery of the monies
fraudulently obtained we will post a further update.
Below is a newspaper
article that was written just prior to his sentencing.
|
QUICK, Kevin Lionel, Nickname
"Mother"
