According to a VNA reporter in Sydney, Tran Vinh Phuc, an overseas Vietnamese currently living in Bowral, New South Wales, is not only passionate about collecting old military vehicles but also knows how to share his passion with Australian veterans with the goal of alleviating the pain of war, while raising charity funds to help disabled children and victims of Agent Orange/dioxin in Vietnam.

Mr. Phuc is from Tra Vinh, settled in Australia since 1989. With a passion for military vehicles since childhood, he spent decades to have an impressive collection of old jeeps and troop transport vehicles. Not only that, he is always concerned, although it has ended more than 50 years, the war still causes huge consequences in Vietnam, which persist to this day, especially the impact of Agent Orange/dioxin on children, and he always finds ways to help these victims.

In 2012, Phuc drove an old military jeep that had just been imported to Australia around Sydney Harbour with the words “Help children affected by war” written on the back of the vehicle. It was this message that gave him the opportunity to talk to Australians about the lasting impact of the war in Vietnam, especially the effects of Agent Orange/dioxin on children.

As the collection grew, wedding planners and the Australian military expressed interest and contacted him to use the vehicles for photo shoots, parades and other events. All proceeds from these activities, amounting to tens of thousands of Australian dollars (AUD), along with donations from veterans, businesses and local people, were sent back to Vietnam to help children with disabilities caused by Agent Orange/dioxin through the Maison Chance organization based in Ho Chi Minh City.

Along with the collection, Mr. Phuc has created a “non-profit” community facility, attracting the participation and support of many Australian veterans in the area, including some who fought in Vietnam, local people and businesses. Many Australian veterans enthusiastically help maintain, repair and operate the vehicles in the collection, and expand the activities of the facility.

Mr. Phillip Moscatt, an Australian veteran in Vietnam, said that he often attended the “exhibition” of Mr. Phuc’s military vehicles. Here, he and other veterans could talk, share and ease the pain of war as well as have the opportunity to participate in helping disabled children in Vietnam. When he returned to Vietnam a few years ago, he saw that Vietnam had changed a lot, it was a beautiful country, with lovely people. Surely in the future, if he has the chance, he will return to Vietnam again to witness the changes in this country.

Another Vietnam veteran, Norman Austin, shared that he sees helping disabled children in Vietnam as a way to ease the pain of the past war. During his trip to Vietnam in 2015, he visited a facility for disabled children in Ho Chi Minh City and was deeply moved by the community’s concern and care to help the children have a better life. “This is the motivation for us to do more for disabled children in Vietnam,” Austin said.

Talking about the future plans of his exhibition facility, Mr. Tran Vinh Phuc said that in addition to raising money to send back to help disabled children and other disadvantaged children in the country, the facility hopes to become a bridge for other support activities of individuals and organizations in Australia, such as providing professional advice and treatment to child care centers for victims of Agent Orange/dioxin in Vietnam.