Life on the Line

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Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories.

Episodes

Tuesday Aug 23, 2022

Panel - Veteran Suicide

Tuesday Aug 23, 2022

Alex Lloyd hosts a panel on the veteran suicide crisis, with Wes ‘H’ Hennessey and Renee Wilson.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. On 11 August 2022, the Interim Report of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide was submitted to the Governor-General, and then to Parliament. While this podcast sees itself as a veterans storytelling platform first and foremost, topics as exceptional as this are an ongoing part of the stories of veterans and families around the country. As a nation, we’ve lost more veterans to suicide than we did to combat in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. This Royal Commission was something tirelessly campaigned for by veterans and families, so this interim report is an important measure of whether it’s achieving what so many wanted it to.

To discuss the interim report, host Alex Lloyd welcomed back two previous guests. Wes ‘H’ Hennessey is veteran of the 2nd Commando Regiment, a deeply experienced and well-decorated soldier after many combat deployments to Afghanistan. Renee Wilson is the CEO of Australian War Widows NSW, an ambassador for the Commando Welfare Trust, and is a staunch advocate for veterans and their families. She is also the wife of veteran Gary Wilson, who was significantly injured in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

You can listen to this episode in your usual podcast app, or watch our Zoom recording on YouTube.

Episodes referenced at the end of the podcast include:

To see photos related to today's interview, visit our website - www.lifeonthelinepodcast.com - or follow us on social media: @lifeonthelinepodcast on Facebook and Instagram, @LOTLpod on Twitter and 'Thistle Productions' on LinkedIn.

Tuesday Aug 16, 2022

The Fall of Kabul with Glenn Kolomeitz

Tuesday Aug 16, 2022

Angus Hordern speaks with veteran Glenn Kolomeitz about the fall of Kabul in 2021.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Glenn Kolomeitz is a veteran of the Royal Australian Air Force and the Australian Army. Among other roles, he’s been an MP and deployed to Afghanistan as a Legal Officer, working to enable Special Forces on their missions. He was originally interviewed by Angus Hordern in Season 2 of the podcast, in #22 Glenn Kolomeitz. This year, Glenn came back on the show to speak with Angus about the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, one year on, and the work Glenn continues to do in the veterans community.

Episodes referenced at the end of the podcast include:

Tuesday Aug 02, 2022

#129 Paul Gebran

Tuesday Aug 02, 2022

Alex Lloyd interviews Middle East, South Sudan and Cambodia veteran of the RAAF, Paul Gebran.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Paul Gebran is a veteran of the Royal Australian Air Force. He joined on April 24th 1990 and medically discharged on April 25th 2017. Paul spoke to Alex Lloyd about his deployments to Cambodia, South Sudan and the Middle East, and the volunteer work he does today with Northern Queensland Legacy.

Tuesday Jul 19, 2022

#128 Ryan Wilson

Tuesday Jul 19, 2022

Angus Hordern interviews SAS veteran of Afghanistan, Ryan Wilson.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Ryan Wilson is a veteran of the Special Air Service Regiment. Over the course of his military career, he deployed to Malaysia, the Solomon Islands and Afghanistan, as well as training overseas. Today, he is the General Manager of Whipper Snapper Distillery, and is the WA State Manager for the veterans charity Wandering Warriors. Ryan spoke with Angus Hordern about his career in Special Forces, life after service and reflected on the difference they made in Afghanistan.

Episodes referenced at the end of the podcast include:

Tuesday Jul 05, 2022

#127 Reg Chard

Tuesday Jul 05, 2022

Alex Lloyd interviews World War II veteran Reg Chard.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Reg Chard was an infantryman in the Australian Army in the Second World War. He fought in the jungle against the Japanese in New Guinea along the Kokoda Trail in 1942 for months. Since 2011, Reg has been a volunteer guide at the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway in Sydney. In 2022, the 98-year-old celebrates the release of his biography, THE DIGGER OF KOKODA by Daniel Lane. Reg spoke with Alex Lloyd about his military service, his experiences in New Guinea and how Kokoda still lives with him today.

This conversation can be watched as a video podcast on YouTube or heard through all podcast apps.

Tuesday Jun 21, 2022

#126 Gareth Gardner

Tuesday Jun 21, 2022

Thomas Kaye interviews army veteran Gareth Gardner.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Gareth Gardner served in the Royal Australian Armoured Corps, deploying as a driver to Timor-Leste and Afghanistan. He transitioned from digger to officer, becoming a tank commander. Gareth spoke to Thomas Kaye about his military service, his love for teaching and instructing, and the work he’s doing today with the veterans employment program company WithYouWithMe.

Episodes referenced at the end of the podcast include:

Tuesday Jun 07, 2022

#125 Ant Plater

Tuesday Jun 07, 2022

Alex Lloyd interviews 2nd Commando Regiment veteran Ant Plater.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Former Special Forces operator Ant Plater served in the Australian Defence Force for 27 years, 17 of which were with the Commandos. He deployed to Somalia, Bougainville, East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan, served in the Tactical Assault Group-East, and was the counter-terrorism advisor to the Australian Federal Police. Today, he’s a high-performance consultant for the Canberra Raiders and an advocate for the Commando Welfare Trust. The 2nd Commando Regiment veteran spoke with Alex Lloyd about his journey to the army and Special Forces, some of his deployments, the idea of ‘tribe’, and being a leader at the tip of the spear.

Episodes referenced at the end of the podcast include:

Tuesday May 24, 2022

#124 Mick Burgess

Tuesday May 24, 2022

Sharon Mascall-Dare interviews army veteran Mick Burgess.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Mick Burgess has served in the Australian Army and Army Reserve for almost 40 years. He deployed to Rwanda as a young officer, encountering child soldiers and the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. He went on to have a career in the army as an instructor and then a linguist, including an exchange to Thailand. He is now the Chair of the Remembrance Driveway Council. This is his story of service, as told to Sharon Mascall-Dare.

Episodes referenced at the end of the podcast include:

Wednesday May 11, 2022

#123 Nick Howlett Vol II

Wednesday May 11, 2022

Angus Hordern continues his interview with Vietnam War SAS veteran Nick Howlett.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. In the second part of his conversation with Angus Hordern, Nick Howlett details patrols and hot extractions during the 1969-70 3 Squadron SAS deployment to Vietnam. Nick tells Angus about his post-Vietnam career, the paratroop jump that ended it all, his difficulties with PTSD, his views on transition out of the military and his peaceful life today on his boat.

Listen to Volume I before listening to this episode.

Episodes referenced at the end of the podcast include:

Tuesday May 10, 2022

#123 Nick Howlett Vol I

Tuesday May 10, 2022

Angus Hordern interviews Vietnam War SAS veteran Nick Howlett.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Nick Howlett joined the Citizens Military Forces in the 1960s as a commando. He soon left his civilian job as a bank teller and transferred to the regular army and joined the Special Air Service Regiment as an officer. In this podcast, Nick tells Angus Hordern about his experiences commanding an SAS troop - all with sergeants and soldiers far more experienced than him - in the jungles of Vietnam. This is the first interview of Season 6 and the first of a two-part conversation.

Tuesday Apr 26, 2022

Season 6 Trailer

Tuesday Apr 26, 2022

Welcome to Season 6 of LIFE ON THE LINE, Australia's first and leading veterans podcast, from Thistle Productions.

After 5 years, 5 seasons, 2 miniseries, 241 podcasts, 15 video episodes, 174 veterans and over 1.4 million downloads, Life on the Line is back. In 2022, our 6th year, we present Season 6. Our ongoing mission is to track down Australian military veterans and record their stories, from World War II to the 21st century. The vision of Life on the Line continues to be to capture the raw human stories behind the broader brushstrokes of history, and to explore service: why people serve, and how a life of service changes them. From acts of valour to the trauma of conflict, and how veterans can grow and change from that trauma. This podcast seeks to discover the human side of war, the truth of battle scars and what it’s really like to put one’s life on the line.

This season, we have a great mix of interviews, from a 98-year-old veteran of the Kokoda campaign in World War II to modern-day Special Forces, as well as servicemen and women across the years from the Army, Navy and Air Force, of all ranks and backgrounds. On Tuesday May 10th, check out your preferred podcast app, YouTube or our website for our first episode, with an SAS veteran of the Vietnam War. You can expect a new episode every 2nd Tuesday, with the occasional bonus episode in between.

Watch this trailer on YouTube.

Our website is www.lifeonthelinepodcast.com. Find us on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook @lifeonthelinepodcast, on Twitter @LOTLpod and on LinkedIn @ThistleProductions. Life on the Line is brought to you by Thistle Productions. Artwork by Big Cat Design. Music by Dan Van Werkhoven. Thank you for listening and Lest We Forget.

Tuesday Dec 21, 2021

Christmas on the Line Vol IV

Tuesday Dec 21, 2021

Veterans of Season 5 share their stories of a Christmas in uniform.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Veterans of Season 5 share with the Thistle Productions team their experiences of Christmas in uniform, from deployments overseas and back home in Australia. Featured guests include Chris Oxenbould, Greg Hopgood, Mark Wales, Wes 'H' Hennessey, Commando Jamie, Keith Wolahan, Sir Peter Cosgrove and Wayne Bemet. This episode is hosted by Thomas Kaye.

The episodes these veterans were featured in earlier this season include:

Tuesday Nov 16, 2021

#122 Kasey Mumford

Tuesday Nov 16, 2021

Alex Lloyd interviews Royal Australian Navy veteran Kasey Mumford.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Kasey Mumford was an officer in the Royal Australian Navy. She deployed to Timor, the Arabian Gulf and was on HMAS Manoora during the MV Tampa incident in 2001. Kasey spoke with Alex Lloyd for Season 5’s final episode.

For more episodes related to the MV Tampa, listen to: