A "quiet achiever" from Dubbo who served his country on the battlefield and has continued to work for veterans has received a new and vivid decoration.
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Greg Salmon was awarded the Thank You For Your Service Quilt on Sunday by the NSW RSL Auxiliaries' central council.
The Dubbo RSL Sub-Branch committee member became just the fifth recipient of the honour, and the first Vietnam veteran to whom it was given.
NSW RSL Auxiliaries state president Pauline James surprised Mr Salmon with the presentation at Dubbo.
Gathered RSL Auxiliary members applauded the returned serviceman, who received the Military Medal in 1970.
Bestowing the Thank You For Your Service Quilt on Mr Salmon held special significance for Mrs James, who grew up at Coonamble.
Her cousin, William Wayne Donnelly of Dubbo, was killed in Vietnam at the age of 19.
"His memorial is up here in the park and it was 50 years ago last November and I thought, I still think about my cousin, and Greg's here, so I couldn't give one to Wayne, so who next would I want to give one from Dubbo," Mrs James said.
...Greg, because he's a quiet achiever, he is such a quiet achiever, he goes around and does things that nobody knows about. So it's a privilege for me to give it to him.
- RSL Auxiliaries state president Pauline James
"And Greg, because he's a quiet achiever, he is such a quiet achiever, he goes around and does things that nobody knows about.
"So it's a privilege for me to give it to him."
The unassuming Mr Salmon was modest about the decades of service he's given to veterans at home.
"It's something I've been in for the past 50 years, and it's just nice to be recognised, although I haven't done it by myself, I've had a lot of support through the time," he said.
It's something I've been in for the past 50 years, and it's just nice to be recognised, although I haven't done it by myself, I've had a lot of support through the time.
- Thank Your For Your Service Quilt recipient Greg Salmon
A past president of the Dubbo RSL Sub-Branch, he said the organisation's work continued year round, not just on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day.
Mr Salmon identified reaching and involving young veterans as today's "biggest hurdle".
"They've got... a lot of problems, and they're just reluctant coming forward, they reckon we're an old bunch of sabre-rattlers," he said.
"...that might have been years ago, but it's a different ball game today and we've just got to try and get across to them that we're all veterans.
"They've come up with a name, 'contemporary veterans', and I just don't sit well with that.
"We're a veteran and that's it."
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