Sapper Ramon John Peter Deed – Vietnam
RSL Victoria remembers the sacrifice of Sapper Ramon “Ray” John Peter Deed who gave his life in service of his country on 10 May 1967 during the Vietnam War.
Ray was born in East Melbourne on 25 July 1945, one of three children born to Howard and Winifred Deed. His father was a hospital attendant but took a job as an engine driver and moved the family to Mildura when Ramon was five years old.
Ray went to Kathleen Kelly kindergarten where he met his lifelong friend John Searle. One of John’s earliest memories is of being photographed with Ramon in the kindergarten’s sandpit for a Father’s Day photo.
Ray and John briefly attended the local Catholic school together before Ray transferred to Mildura Central School Sacred Heart School and then Mildura Tech for high school. Growing up John remembers his Ray’s dynamic personality.
“He was a likeable larrikin, always laughing and having fun. Everyone was drawn to him, he had such a magnetic personality and was just a natural leader,” John said.
After school Ray would join with other local Mildura kids at the Murray River either swimming or fishing. Ray was close to his siblings, his elder sister, Hilary, telling a local newspaper in the 1950’s about going to the pictures with him on a Friday night.
Ray left school when he was around 16 years old and worked as jockey for a removalist company, which gave him a nomadic life as he travelled long distance delivering goods and furniture across the state.
At the same time a young woman by the name of Marie Ross was regularly attending dances in Mildura at the Rowers club by the Murray River. Just before Christmas 1964 she met a handsome young man who asked her to dance and the two quickly fell in love.
“His personality was awesome,” Marie, who still lives in Mildura, said of him. “He was a really genuine and fun-loving guy. I don’t think I ever saw him get annoyed or irritated about anything.”
The couple dated for just over a year, Ray regularly coming over to stay with Marie in her Red Cliffs home, before Ray proposed in February 1966.
Meanwhile his brother, Brian, enlisted in the Australian Army and such was the bond the brothers shared that he urged Ray to join up as well so they could serve together.
Ray was reluctant to join and be separated from Marie but just days after their engagement he was called up for national service. He undertook basic training at Puckapunyal and initially served in Sydney, their wedding plans inevitably delayed.
When they married in September 1966, he was only given two days leave to attend his own wedding in Mildura before rejoining his unit as deployment to Vietnam loomed.
Attached to the 1st Field Squadron of the Royal Australian Engineers he deployed to Vietnam on 13 March 1967, joining his brother Brian at Nui Dat who was posted to the 103 Signal Squadron.
Marie and Ray corresponded regularly, his young wife sending three letters a week. In return Ray sent stories of his daily life in Nui Dat, complaining about the extreme heat and his work laying mines around the base.
On 9 May 1967 Ray was part of a mine laying operation near Nui Dat. According to a witness one of the sappers had just finished laying his mines when he stepped backwards and inadvertently detonated a mine, resulting in a massive explosion.
“Ray was closest one to the explosion,” Marie said. “He copped it in the throat, and some other guys were badly injured.”
Brian Deed was said to have been working in the signals section back at Nui Dat and heard the explosion. When the message came into Nui Dat that Ray was amongst the seriously injured it was Brian, as part of the signals team, who recorded the message.
Six soldiers were medically evacuated to Vung Tau. Ray would die of his wounds the following day, 10 May 1967, at the 24th US Evacuation Hospital. He was 21 years old.
“I was given the choice of him staying in Vietnam or having his body brought back to Australia,” Marie said. “I wanted to see him again, so I said I wanted him brought home.”
Brian was given permission to return to Australia and be with his family. Ray was returned to Mildura where Marie and Brian went to view his body in the local funeral parlour.
“It all happened so fast,” Marie said. “Our time together was very short. We hadn’t had time to plan for the future.”
Ray was buried with full military honours, one of the first times such a ceremony was conducted in the remote border town. Brian returned to Vietnam in April 1968 and served with what was by then called the 104 Signals Squadron in Nui Dat until 30 April 1969. His sister, Hillary, had married Ian McCrae in 1963 and moved to the Northern Territory with her husband.
The couple lived and worked at the Peko gold and copper mine just outside of Tenant Creek. In 1969 Hilary gave birth to a son they named Ramon after her brother. Sadly, baby Ramon died only a few weeks after being born. Hilary, too, passed away in 1975 leaving behind her husband and three children, Kathryn, Anne and Stephen.
Marie remarried and had two children but never forgot her first love, Ramon.
His childhood friend, John Searle, who he had played with in the kindergarten sandpit shortly after arriving in Mildura, also served with the Australian Army during the Vietnam war. He arrived in Vietnam with C Company 7RAR on 8 April 1967, a month before Ray was killed. John was part of a search and destroy mission at the time of the accident and as Ray was evacuated to hospital John says he did not learn about his death at the time.
John moved away from Mildura after the war and did not know of Ray’s death until he returned to his hometown for the first time in 1983 and a mutual asked him if he had been in Vietnam when Ray was killed.
The sacrifice of Sapper Ramon Deed, like many veterans, was not widely recognised in the immediate aftermath of the war. But as the years have passed John and Marie have become friends again and return regularly to the Mildura cemetery to visit Ray’s grave.
They have watched as his memory, and the recognition of his service, has grown in the region where Ray was raised. Marie has donated Ray’s medals and memorabilia to the Mildura RSL where they now take pride of place on display in the Sub-Branch together with a photo and biography of his life.
In 1998 the Ramon Deed Veterans Retreat was opened and named in his honour, just over the border from Mildura in Dareton NSW. The retreat was established as a lasting tribute to his legacy and a retreat for all veterans and current service members.
RSL Victoria pays tribute to Sapper Deed, his family and all those who have sacrificed in the service of their country.
Lest we forget.
