Charlotte Foster
Retirement Life

Aussie Vietnam vet reunited with lost war medals just in time

A Vietnam veteran has been reunited with his lost war medals that were missing for a year, just in time for Remembrance Day. 

When attending a Remembrance Day event in New Zealand last year, Townsville veteran Malcolm Edmiston lost his medals somewhere along the journey to Christchurch from Brisbane. 

The medals were left sitting unclaimed in Brisbane Airport's lost and found after being found in an airport terminal, before airport staff launched a social media campaign to find their owner. 

After seeing a post on Facebook, Edmiston was finally reunited with his precious medals just in time for this year's Remembrance Day events. 

"It's very good to have them back, great to have them back, I thought they were gone and gone for good," Malcolm told Today.

"The zip was opened on my case and somehow they fell out, so it's a good reminder for us to take extra care when we pack."

Malcolm was not the only one in his family to serve the country, sharing how his father served in the Royal Navy, he had uncles in the Royal Australian Air Force and and the Royal Air Force and a brother who served in Naval Reserve.

His son also served in the Navy and with so many of his fellow Vietnam veteran soldiers no longer alive, having his medals back today is something special.

"Remembrance Day is a very important day for me," he said.

Brisbane Airport's media manager Peter Doherty added that he was thrilled to see the medals return to their rightful owner. 

He said, "For Malcolm's lifetime of service, the least we could do was the door-to-door service to get the medals back to him."

Image credits: Today 

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retirement life, veteran, Remembrance Day, Malcolm Edmiston, medals