OH4666: Narrative. Interview with Brian Cleaver in 2021 By Jenelle Hockley.

Summary

Brian Cleaver’s family regularly spent their weekends at City Beach. Thus, Brian developed a connection to the beach that was to last a lifetime. As a youth, Brian discovered a talent for surfing. Dressed in the new fashion of hipster jeans, the City Beach Surf Riders met at the City Beach Tea Rooms. As surfies, Brian and his brother were both conscripted in the draft lottery to serve in Vietnam. Being fit, Brian remembers much of his military training with a bit of a smirk, running up Tit Hill and dropping for 50 push-ups. But his life was to be irrevocably changed when they flew into Saigon, the airport under attack at the time of their arrival. The disastrous mistakes in directives for the initial setting up of Fire Support Bases [FSB] Coral, Coogee and Fire Support Patrol Base [FSPB] Balmoral left them open to terrifying assaults by countless North Vietnamese. Brian tells of the terror of battles, patrols and the grief of losing the much-respected Sergeant Joe Lewis. The smell of cordite and smoke and the sight of those blown apart in the assaults, remain with him. In an attempt to still his tumultuous memories, Brian has been relentless in trying to discover the location of 42 North Vietnamese Army [NVA] killed in action [KIA], buried in a bomb crater by allied forces. These 42 NVA soldiers remain listed as missing in action [MIA] by the NVA.