Dennis Braun discusses his two periods of service with the Australian Army. Born in Darwin, Dennis joined the Army after hearing Reveille one morning in 1977 at Larrakeyah Barracks, having felt the need for a change from his life of itinerant work and drinking. Dennis left the Army in 1980, worked as a security guard and then returned to the Army in 1983 for a further three years. He enjoyed his time in the Army, and although he faced some bullying during recruit training, found racism a rare experience. Dennis was deployed to Malaysia as part of rifle company Butterworth. He is disappointed that he has not received an active service medal for this deployment.

This interview took place on 16 September 2015 in Alice Springs and was conducted by Professor Mick Dodson and Dr Allison Cadzow with Craig Greene as part of the Australian Research Council-funded research project Serving our Country: a history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the defence of Australia.

The interview recording above is made available to be viewed here by permission of the interviewee(s), Dennis Braun. The recording may not be copied, reproduced or communicated in whole or in part without the prior permission of the interviewee(s). Requests for permission for use of this material should be made to the Serving our Country research project: our contact details.

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