DEFENCE MEDIA RELEASE
Issued by Ministerial Support and Public Affairs, Department of Defence, Canberra, ACT
Phone: 02 6127 1999, Fax: 02 6265 1545
MSPA 396/09
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
JOHN SCHUMANN TO TOUR EAST TIMOR TO PERFORM
FOR OUR TROOPS
John Schumann, the singer-songwriter famously known for his Vietnam veteran’s
anthem ‘I was only 19’, will be touring to East Timor next month to entertain our
Australian service men and women, performing the hit track after it was first recorded
over 25 years ago.
A lifetime honorary member of the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia,
Schumann will travel to East Timor with his band The Vagabond Crew to meet with
and play for the troops based within the Dili surrounds.
“It has been a long time coming. We’ve had so many requests from serving men and
women of the Australian Defence Force that it’s nice to be able to finally go. We are
all really looking forward to the tour and we hope to bring a bit of home to our troops
in East Timor who will no doubt be missing their families over the Christmas period,”
Mr Schumann said.
“We have heard a lot of artists who have been on these tours have played our songs
for the troops, in particular ‘I was only 19’, so it will be fantastic to be able to perform
these tracks myself. All the preparation leading up to the tour has been great and we
can’t wait to board the flight.”
John Schumann holds a distinguished place in the Australian music industry and first
came to national attention in 1980 as the lead singer-songwriter legendary for folk-
rock band Redgum.
The Vagabond Crew made up of Schumann, Redgum band mate Hugh McDonald, Kat
Kraus, Mick Morena, Alexander Stuart Black and Sam Willoughby, will perform old
Redgum songs, and classic Australian songs from the solo albums Lawson and Behind
the Lines.
The Forces Entertainment tours travel to East Timor, the Middle East and the
Solomon Islands to provide entertainment to our serving forces and to improve morale
by bringing ‘a little piece of Australia’ to far-flung places.
Media contacts:
Gillian Linton (Identity PR): 02 9904 2733 or gillian@identitypr.com.au
Defence Media Liaison: 02 6127 1999 or 0408 498 664
NEWS 
