Living with Unresolved Grief and Uncompleted Tasks: Achieving Closure around Ambiguous Loss and Traumatic Events during Wartime A Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Victoria University James Raymond Bourke College of Arts Victoria University Melbourne, Australia November 2014 Page ii ABSTRACT This study examines how people deal with contentious life issues where high levels of ambiguity exist, specifically ambiguity arising from wartime losses where authorities declare a service person as Missing-in-Action or Killed-in-Action, without the recovery of a body. Twelve thousand Australians remain unaccounted-for from the Second World War and the authorities list 42 men as missing from the Korean War. Many relatives and comrades of these missing are still alive, although their numbers are decreasing, especially those concerned with Second World War cases. Nevertheless, unresolved grief and the failure to recover the missing still affect some Australians today. The Vietnam War (1962–75), the most recent conflict where Australia left men on the battlefield provides the platform for this study. During 2007 to 2009, searchers recovered the remains of the six Australians left behind in Vietnam during the War— here called 'the Forgotten Six'. This study employs grounded theory, drawing on interviews given by 48 relevant individuals and various primary and secondary sources. These sources enable thick description of the experiences of the members of the families of the Forgotten Six and their comrades to explore the affective/experiential states-of-mind they encountered, and the strategies they used to deal with their contentious issues. This research demonstrates closure is a real phenomenon, and shows how these family members and comrades progressively achieved closure around their unresolved grief and uncompleted tasks. In addition, this study shows the use of anachronistic policies by the Australian authorities, coupled with a lack of official interest delayed the recovery of the Forgotten Six for 36 years or more, and perpetuated the ambiguity surrounding their loss. Further analysis suggests the Australian Defence Force might do well to reconsider its policies regarding the management of Missing-in-Action matters, to deal more effectively and compassionately with current and future cases. Page iii DECLARATION OF AUTHENTICITY I, James Raymond Bourke, declare that the PhD thesis entitled Living with Unresolved Grief and Uncompleted Tasks: Achieving Closure around Ambiguous Loss and Traumatic Events during Wartime is no more than 100,000 words in length including quotes and exclusive of tables, figures, appendices, bibliography and footnotes. This thesis contains no material that has been submitted previously, in whole or in part, for the award of any other academic degree or diploma. Except where otherwise indicated this thesis is my own work. 10 March 2015 Signature Date College of Arts Victoria University Melbourne, Australia Page iv DEDICATION For my father, John Patrick Carrington Bourke (1908–1958), whose funeral I was not permitted to attend and for Christine Mary Gillespie (1944–2012), who urged me to undertake this research Page v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The last six years have at times been challenging but carrying out this research has been extremely rewarding in many ways. Not only have I completed the most difficult writing task I have ever undertaken, or even imagined, I have met some interesting people, listened to their stories, made new friends from various walks-of-life and learned more than I ever expected to. However, this thesis would never have come to fruition without the guidance and support of many individuals, and with considerable pleasure and gratitude, I pay tribute to those people. Three groups emerge. First, there was a range of people who provided academic and collegiate support, which needless to say, was invaluable. Second, 48 participants provided interviews—their role was clearly irreplaceable. Third, family members and friends provided encouragement and support that enabled me to retain my sanity during trying times and facilitated the research process in a variety of meaningful ways. The support and guidance of my formally appointed supervisors, Professor Robert Pascoe and Dr Adrian Threlfall deserve more than a passing mention. Their assistance took many forms, agreeing to provide supervision, facilitating approval for the study, discussing approaches, offering inspiring ideas and providing invaluable feedback. Associate Professor Wally Karmilowicz provided support as an 'associate' supervisor. I most certainly appreciated Wally's freely given advice on conceptual and methodological issues and his continual constructive critique during the writing process. Other academics, mainly from Victoria University provided advice in a friendly environment, including Professor Michelle Grossman, Professor Phillip Deery and Dr Richard Chauvel. I must also mention Dr Christine Gillespie who, in September 2007 suggested I might like to spend the next few years investigating how the loss of the six men in Vietnam affected their families and comrades. Somehow I thought that was a good idea—and it was! Sadly, Christine died in September 2012. I must thank Professor Catherine Riessman for introducing me to narrative analysis in February 2009, Dr Leonie Daws for the NVivo course she conducted in September–October 2010 and Professor Kathy Charmaz for her stimulating three- day workshop on Writing Qualitative Research in March 2014. Furthermore, I extend my appreciation to the University for the many useful training sessions I attended, for the support of the members of the Graduate Research Centre, notably Ms Grace Schirripa, and for the services of the library staff who were forever helpful. Page vi Obviously, without the involvement of the 48 participants this research would have been deficient and would have made the writing of this thesis exceedingly difficult, if not impossible. To all participants, you have my heartfelt thanks and I hope I have done justice to your stories. I would also like to thank the people in Defence and in the respective Ministers' offices for the assistance given to me in the conduct of this study. Again, there are too many people to mention by name. I must also thank my family who have tolerated my obsessive behaviour throughout most of their lives, but more particularly over the last six years while I worked on this thesis. My children, Rachel, Anthony, Julia, Nicholas and Sarah, Nick's wife, Joanne and Sarah's husband, Brad offered encouragement and contributed to my library through Amazon on celebratory occasions. Sarah provided much needed secretarial support, keeping the work place tidy, which I simply found too difficult. Anthony, my elder son kept my computers and printers alive, performing a number of delicate transplant operations on my ageing machines. Anthony also acted as my chauffeur, driving me to and from Melbourne airport on innumerable occasions, as I ventured forth to conduct interviews and gather data. I would like to thank the folk who helped during these data gathering activities, offering food and lodging and good company as I wandered around the country. In the West, Darryl Lovell and Ruth Henderson of Perth and Sue Bourke and th Max Stephen of Adelaide immediately come to mind. On my 70 birthday, Sue presented me with a clean second copy of Sledge's Soldier Dead: How We Recover, Bury, and Honor Our Military Fallen, which she purchased while visiting Arlington National Cemetery, VA in 2013. Rachel, my eldest daughter, and her husband Jeremy Lemke, Denyse Gibbs, John and Sue Essex-Clark, and Bill and Joan Rolfe provided a base for my Canberra operations. Lorraine Gillson of Wagga offered her hospitality while I worked in New South Wales. John and Sue Dwyer of Runaway Bay, on the Gold Coast and Peter and Beth Aylett of Cashmere kindly invited me to stay with them while I was in Queensland. John and Sue added to my library with a copy of Budreau's Bodies of War: World War I and the Politics of Commemoration in America, purchased while travelling overseas. I would like to acknowledge the assistance of my friends, Peter Rothwell and Peter Aylett. Rothwell read and re-read various drafts and most importantly, made sure my writing was accessible to the general reader. Aylett assisted in recovering facts related to our trips to Vietnam to investigate the cases of the Forgotten Six. Page vii As with most things I have done during my life, this research has been a team effort and the support and assistance I received was invaluable and very much appreciated. However, I alone am responsible for any omissions or mistakes enshrined in this thesis. The buck stops here. Page viii CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ ii DECLARATION OF AUTHENTICITY ........................................................................ iii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................ iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...........................................................................................v CONTENTS ............................................................................................................ viii TABLES .................................................................................................................. viii FIGURES .................................................................................................................. ix MILITARY ABBREVIATIONS .....................................................................................x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN ....................................................................... 74 CHAPTER 4: 'LIVING WITH THE UN-DEAD' ....................................................... 105 CHAPTER 5: 'ATTENDING TO UNFINISHED BUSINESS' .................................. 175 CHAPTER 6: 'REPOSITIONING THE DEAD' ....................................................... 213 CHAPTER 7: THEORISING EXPERIENCES ........................................................ 261 CHAPTER 8: REACHING CONCLUSIONS .......................................................... 301 APPENDICES ....................................................................................................... 311 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................... 312 TABLES Table 4–1: The Six Australian Servicemen not recovered during the Vietnam War 105 Table 4–2: Primary Bereaved Parties while 'Living with the Un-dead' .................... 108 Table 4–3: Ratings of Religiosity ........................................................................... 109 Table 4–4: Length of Time over which the Decedents were married ..................... 110 Table 4–5: Structures of the Men's Birth Families at the time of their Loss ............ 118 Page ix Table 4–6: Availability of Parents within the Birth Families ...................................1245 Table 4–7: Conscious Acceptance of Death in KIA Cases ..................................... 148 Table 4–8: Conscious Acceptance of Death in MIA Cases .................................... 149 Table 4–9: Religiosity of the Family Members and the Comrades of the Men........ 150 Table 4–10: Religiosity and the Timing of Acceptance of Death for KIA Cases ..... 151 Table 4–11: Religiosity and the Timing of Acceptance of Death for MIA Cases ..... 151 Table 4–12: Cases where Family Members and Comrades preferred the Presence of the Body ................................................................................................................ 153 Table 4–13: Cases where Family Members and Comrades did not require the Presence of the Body ............................................................................................ 154 Table 4–14: Attitudes toward Australia's Involvement in the Vietnam War ............. 158 Table 4–15: Seeking Clerical Assistance and the Perceived Benefit of Religion .... 160 Table 6–1: Attributes of Persons of Interest within the Families (2002–12) ............ 214 Table 6–2: Commemorative Activities (2002–06) .................................................. 218 Table 6–3: Schedule of the Repatriations of the Forgotten Six .............................. 225 Table 6–4: Funerals of the Forgotten Six ............................................................... 231 Table 7–1: Relationships between Strategies and Affective/Experiential States .... 279 FIGURES Figure 4–1: External Interactions of the Families while 'Living with the Un-dead' ... 126 Figure 4–2: Cognitive Processes while 'Living with the Un-dead'........................... 143 Figure 4–3: Elements of Closure while 'Living with the Un-dead' ........................... 164 Figure 6–1: Elements of Closure on 'Repositioning the Dead' ............................... 242 Figure 7–1: Properties and Dimensions of the Core Phenomenon ........................ 266 Figure 7–2: Levels of Closure Related to Recovery Efforts .................................... 284 Page x MILITARY ABBREVIATIONS st 1 ATF 1 Australian Task Force st 1 RAR 1 Battalion Royal Australian Regiment AATTV Australian Army Training Team Vietnam ADF Australian Defence Force AFV Australian Force Vietnam AHU Army History Unit ARVN Army of the Republic of Vietnam AWM Australian War Memorial BNR Body Not Recovered CARO Central Army Records Office CILHI Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii COI Court of Inquiry CPL Corporal DPRK Democratic People's Republic of Korea DRV Democratic Republic of Vietnam ESO Ex-service organisations FLGOFF Flying Officer FRS Family Reference Samples GPR Ground Penetrating Radar IWGC Imperial War Graves Commission JCRC Joint Casualty Resolution Centre JPAC Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command JTF–FA Joint Task for Full Accounting KIA Killed-in-Action KPA Korean People's Army LCPL Lance Corporal LKP Last Known Position