AustLit

'The powerful true story behind the classic Aussie song I Was Only Nineteen.

'On 21 July 1969, the soldiers of 3 Platoon crouched in the scrubby Vietnamese landscape listening to the news on the radio: Neil Armstrong had just stepped onto the moon.

'Moments later, Platoon Commander Lieutenant Peter Hines stepped on a mine and the platoon was engulfed in a maelstrom of dirt, smoke and blood.

'This is the true story of Frank 'Frankie' Hunt and the other soldiers of 3 Platoon, A Company, 6 Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment who became the inspiration for Redgum's 1983 hit song I Was Only Nineteen - the anthem for the veterans of the Vietnam War.

'The Jungle Dark traverses the deep unhealed wounds of Vietnam soldiers and the song that finally brought them home.' (Publication summary)