Marinus (Mark) Johanes Stoove

Stoove is a well known “suffering” Vietnam Veteran in his hometown of Violet Town, Victoria. Stoove has spoken long and loudly of many horrible experiences in Vietnam. The problem is that Mark Stoove missed both the troop carrier HMAS Sydney (aka The Vung Tau Ferry) and the weekly QANTAS charter  to Vietnam and he is one big whining wannabe.

Stoove has spread some incredible stories around Violet Town about his military service and of course he "suffers" mortifying nightmares that leave him debilitated and explains his penchant to swill booze and generally misbehave

Stoove must have got a bit of a hint about his impending exposure because he left town on a visit to Melbourne when someone at his local pub where he tells his stories pinned a newspaper article about another recent ANZMI  “client” (Gibbons) onto the Pub’s notice board. Here is a small example of Stoove's stories:

“After spending weeks in a trench pinned down by hostile fire from the ground and air that killed two of his friends. They endured extreme humidity and torrential rain with only 1 litre of water each. His unit trekked through the vast jungle with the enemy on their heels to rendezvous with a “Chopper” which after boarding was shot down. They then lay in another trench for a long time. A grenade was hurled into the trench seriously wounding a comrade. Stoove carried his wounded mate with his guts hanging out for 5 kms to safety and for that action he was awarded a medal. He also said he had killed many men and some children as they were armed with hand grenades. He was not able to make claims from The Department of Veterans Affairs because he got a substantial payout for a leg injury he sustained in Vietnam whilst loading rockets for an airstrike. He was told at the time that he could never claim benefits or expenses from the Defence Force again. He and his mates were flown back to Australia at 2 am in the morning and his war service not recognised"

Like many wannabes Stoove knows how to talk the talk of an ex serviceman; however his service was very basic and involved no operational or overseas service.

Stoove was enlisted into the Australian Army as a National Serviceman on the 29 Jan 1971 and was discharged on the 26^th July 1972 a total of one year and one hundred and eighty two days.  He was discharged at the cessation of National Service.  Here is a copy of his Proceedings for Discharge.

The document clearly shows “Service Outside Australia - Nil”.   If he was not in Vietnam then where was he?  He never went anywhere very much. See the document below:

This document shows that after recruit training he was allocated to Royal Australian Artillery (RAA) for further training, after which he was posted to 16^th Light Anti Aircraft Regiment located at Woodside in South Australia until his discharge.

Again we have a dishonest ex serviceman convincing his family and “friends” that he is a damaged Vietnam Veteran and blames all his life woes on his Vietnam service. When in fact he is no more than a false pretender, stealing the honour of genuine veterans

The long suffering family, friends and drinking mates at the Violet Town local pub who have believed his lies and have had to put up with his ridiculous behaviour need worry no more because he is not a damaged veteran, just a lying malingering, wannabe

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.