Veterans highlight 'tricky' but important peacekeeping tours that can 'change quickly'

When Kellie Dadds enlisted in the army, peacekeeping wasn't on her bucket list. "My job was to be out in the communities, to talk to the locals and to try and identify where the threats to our people and to the local people were," Ms Dadds said. "It was very similar to what we were doing out in the middle of Australia, where we were living in tents … but in East Timor we actually had a building that we occupied, we were sleeping on mattresses, eating with our catering staff," he said. "We also had to go down to an area called Suai, right down the southern side of the island on the border between East and West Timor, there was a small airfield that we had to extend … so they could land Hercules there," he said. Recognition for Australian peacekeepers Bendigo and District Returned Services League president Glenn Ludeman is thrilled the often unsung efforts of peacekeepers feature in Faces of Peace, an exhibition at the Bendigo military museum.