Long Road to Rwanda

This story takes you on a journey through 16 years of service with the Royal Australian Infantry; everything that you read actually happened: Reconnaissance, Duke of Gloucester Cup, The SASR, Malaysia, the AATPT PNGDF and Rwanda - where the massacre of over 4,000 took place in 1995. Many questions are answered and others still remain unclear, such as the truth behind the atrocities of Bougainville, handed out by the hand of the PNG military.

You will become acquainted with the soldiers of the Royal Australian Infantry, the Grunts: the salt of the earth, drawn into the very day-to-day life of the infantry soldier. Every aspect of infantry life is brought into view, including that dreaded day in Rwanda. For all intents and purposes the mission was of a peace-keeping nature, but the service would be upgraded to warlike. Soldiers face the torments of a humanitarian crisis yet fail to act: should the men and women of UNAMIR shoulder the blame, or is it the UN and the Rules Of Engagement that are at fault? Some people go into the service looking for adventure; but for many of the men and women who served in Rwanda, when it is found, it is not embraced.