Being a “good person” in combat, conflict, and civil life 

In 1965, on the parade ground at Kapooka’s Army Recruit Training Centre, the first intake of Australia’s second National Service Scheme were asked to raise their hands if they had their Leaving Certificate.

A 20-year-old Dave Sabben raised his hand, thanks to the Leaving Certificate he received from Trinity Grammar School only three years earlier. 

Those without their hands raised were to leave the parade ground. Those remaining were asked to keep their hand up if they were willing to undergo Officer training. 

“I thought, if I’m going to put two years into National Service, I want to get something out of it,” reflects Mr Sabben of the moment that set the wheels in motion for the next chapter of his life. “I kept my hand up.” 

Less than seven years before this moment, Mr Sabben arrived at Trinity as a boarder, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Frank. Both boys were sent to Trinity to stitch together a “patchy” education acquired on the move overseas as a result of their father’s role as a British Colonial Officer in a variety of – now former – British colonies and territories. 

Of his school years, he remembers fitting in well and getting involved in the myriad opportunities a Trinity education offered, but he is quick to note he wasn’t a great student. 

“I would say I was a tiny bit above average. Nothing bright shining in academics and not spectacular at sports,” he says before adding that he always did better at individual sports like Swimming and Athletics than in team sports. 

For three of his years at Trinity, Mr Sabben says his involvement in Cadets was an enjoyable activity that turned out to put him in “good stead” for the rest of his life. 

Once he had obtained his Leaving Certificate, Mr Sabben had no particular visions for a specific career beyond Trinity. University and TAFE equivalents weren’t an option due to financial constraints at the time; his plan was to find accommodation, land a job, and then use that breathing space to consider what he might like to pursue as his ‘career’. 

He applied to Farmer’s – the iconic Sydney department store. Mr Sabben started “at the bottom”, working the floor, learning customer service, and getting familiar with the products. After two years, he was moving up the chain, employed by the company’s advertising department, a role he says suited his “artistic nature”. 

No sooner had he taken this step in his career than the National Service Scheme (1964–1972) was introduced. 

“Both of my parents had been in service – my mother as a nurse – so I saw National Service as a good thing,” he reflects, adding that the two-year commitment was an attraction for his younger self who wasn’t quite sure of his pathway yet. 

After raising his hand on the parade ground, Mr Sabben was sent to Scheyville, just outside of Sydney, where 120 candidates went into training to become Officers who could lead an infantry platoon in a South East Asian environment conflict. 

One in three candidates dropped out or were thrown out of training, leaving just 80 to graduate in December 1965 as Second Lieutenant – that final number included Mr Sabben. 

After graduating, he was posted to 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR) in Enoggera, Brisbane, commanding 12 Platoon, Delta Company. 

By the following June, he was in Vietnam for a one-year tour and, in August, he commanded 12 Platoon through the Battle of Long Tan, one of Australia’s most significant battles in the Vietnam War, with D Company suffering 42 casualties, including 18 dead – more than one-third of its strength. 

Mr Sabben was one of three platoon commanders at Long Tan. One died in the battle, another remained in service, and after seeing out the remainder of his scheduled time in Vietnam, Mr Sabben retired from service. 

With the Vietnam War still dividing the nation for the years following his return to Australia, Mr Sabben was often called upon to speak with other Vietnam veterans, filling a gap that many branches of support networks like the Returned Services League (RSL) were leaving open.

The Vietnam War and the battles fought by Australians are now history with which today’s students are familiar as they learn the geopolitical lessons from the time. 

In the lead up to the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan, Mr Sabben was kept very busy, revisiting his experience in service and sharing this with audiences like those at the RAAF Museum at Point Cook in August. 

It’s a task he sees as “paying back” what was invested in him during his National Service.  

He spoke on the experiences of National Servicemen trained for Vietnam in 1965–1966 and their approach to exceed the ‘good enough to go’ mindset to be ‘the best they could be before they got there’. 

“It’s a completely different experience now,” he says of today’s Australian Defence Force recruits. “But the same principles apply: teamwork, leadership … these things apply no matter what.”  

“Intrinsic human decency is the bottom line. You need a certain morality, no matter what you do with your life. Get a level of morality and don’t ever descend below that. Always build on it.

“Just be a good person.” 

Returning from Vietnam, Mr Sabben took up his old position at Farmer’s and found himself two years behind the peers who had started at the same time as him. 

“But I returned with officer training and leadership experience behind me. I was a leader of 30 men in Vietnam. It wasn’t long before I was no longer on the advertising side of things, but on the organising side.” 

He became a Project Manager and his career shifted from advertising, to newspapers, to IT, leading people and managing projects all over the world before retiring in the early 2000s. 

“All the principles of leadership and teamwork that applied at Trinity and then in the Army persisted into my civil life.

“In the military you learn the principles that you need to apply. You can apply them on a small scale, but the same principles apply all the way up the line. You manage 500 people in the same way you manage five,” he says, joking that the only difference between his civilian job and his role in the Army was the boss’s access to live ammunition. 

His advice for everyone – and particularly Trinity students growing into good men – is to focus on the foundations and build from there. 

“If you are a good person, you will have influence over people. If you treat them with respect and decency, they’ll treat you the same.

“Then you have a framework – almost like building a house. Everything that comes after that is painting the house and decorating it, the skills you learn on particular jobs, the experiences you have.” 

Success, he says, is not always loud and shining brightly. 

“I have found that my success post-school has indeed been grounded in the Christian tradition, a positive attitude to change, looking – and working – towards the future, and being always aware of the elements from the past which prepared me for whatever was in front of me.”