Don Tate.....Poor Don.....Nobody Has Had It As
Tough
Donald Tate is one of
the most
obnoxious and blatantly
mercenary veterans to pop
up in
the
veteran community in
recent
times. He is
about to
launch another
book selling
campaign
and true to
form has
launched
another timely hate session
to
raise
his
profile and
sell
his
book.Read the email he
sent on
19
Feb
2009.
"From: Donald Tate
To: Allen Petersen
Sent: Thursday, 19 February 2009
3:41 PM
Subject: a note for "Noel
McLaughlin"- Armoured Corps, I
suspect
This is a message for a "Noel
McLaughlin" who hides in one of the Armoured Corps' web
sites and makes snide
little
comments from the safety of
the
group:
On July 5th 2008, you posted a
comment relating to a Sergeant Stones I'd met briefly
whilst in Yeronga Military
Hospital
almost 40 years ago.
Because he was
in the Queensland
hospital, I
figured he
was a
Queenslander. I think that was a fair enough comment at
the
time.
But no, an arsehole like you calls
me a "clown" who should've got his facts right (I was 20
at the time, you idiot,
and
recovering from war
wounds....what
were YOU doing at the
time?)...
As far as I'm concerned, the facts
WERE right.
Secondly, you also commented on the
"pseudo 2nd D&E Platoon".....well, given that the
platoon is now FORMALLY
recognised
in the histories of the
war as a
legitimate platoon and
its combat
record
"enshrined in the
histories" now- by former Army officer, Mike Kelly MP
no
less, doesn't it make you look
like the jackass you
are?
Come out into the open, McLaughlin,
and make your comments on the wider veteran web- if you're
half
a
man,
and
I
don't
suspect you
are. I'll be out
and
about
during the year-
grab a
few
mates
to hide
behind,
and introduce
yourself.
Don Tate
Don
Tate
author, "The War
Within""
Tate is the jackass in this matter
because ex Legal Officer and now politician The Hon Mike
Kelly MP has erred in
his comments
about the "2nd D&E
Platoon". The
Australian
War
Memorial
(AWM)
has
different
ideas
about what Kelly
said on the 29th
May 2008. A senior
AWM
official
wrote
on
the 2
Jul
2008:
"AWM 2 Jul
2008
From:
@awm.gov.au]
Sent: Wednesday, 2 July 2008
18:53
To:
Subject: Re: 2nd DE Pl and Official
History
1. The combined
infantry-armour night ambush near Thua Tich on 29/30 May
1969 (during Operation
Garry Owen)
by soldiers of the
D&E Platoon
and 2 Troop, B
Squadron, 3
Cavalry
Regiment is
comprehensively covered
in the final
official
history
volume,
Fighting
to
the Finish (expected
release in
2009). This
was a
significant
action
for a
number of
reasons and
warrants such
an
extensive
coverage
and
analysis.
The
official
history notes that a
group
of
D&E
Platoon soldiers
involved in that
action later
called
themselves,
unofficially:
"Second
D&E
Platoon".
2. An exhaustive
search of
relevant records in the
Australian War Memorial
collections
(roll books,
commander's
diaries,
establishment tables, etc.)
found
no
documentary
evidence
of the
formation or
existence
of a
"Second
D&E
Platoon".
A
single
D&E Platoon
was
recorded as a
sub-unit under command of
Headquarters Company
in the
1ATF
order of battle and
establishment
records.
The
existence of
the D&E
Platoon and
its actions
has never
been in
doubt. It is
well
documented in unit and task
force
operational records as
well as
the
official
history
to
be
released in
2009.
3. Given the advice
supplied
by the Australian War
Memorial and the Army
History Unit,
I cannot account for
the
announcement
on
29
May
2008
by
the Hon Dr Mike
Kelly,
Parliamentary
Secretary for Defence
Support,
confirming that
the
government and
the Defence
Department
have
been
able
to determine that the
2nd
D&E
Platoon "did
indeed
exist
and engaged in a series
of
important actions in
Vietnam as
part of the
Australian
Task
Force."
4. The order of battle,
compiled
from official records, will
remain
unchanged
in
the
army
volumes
of the official
history.
Regards
Xxxxxxxx"
Tate has said he
enlisted into
the Army after
watching news of the 1968 Tet
offensive,specifically
requesting to
serve with
Royal
Australian
Infantry in
Vietnam. He
got
his
wish,
was
enlisted and
following
training was
dispatched
to
Vietnam
as an Infantry
soldier.
Tate was
severely wounded in action
after
around
seven
months in
Vietnam and his
career as
a soldier
ended.
It is notable that in 95% of
his
emails he reminds
everybody
that he
was wounded. There were
around 2025
other
men Wounded in
Action in
Vietnam
none of
these seem
to
advertise the fact
as
strongly or as often as Tate.
Tate's traumatic experience
in
Vietnam has dogged him all his
life as it has many
thousands of
other
uncomplaining
soldiers.
Tate
has
exhibited bizarre behaviour
over
many
years; however his
greatest
sin
has been to wrongly
accuse many
hard
working
Army
Officers of
being grossly
corrupt and dishonest in
the
discharge of their
duties in
Vietnam.
Tate has
all the
experience of a very
junior
Private
soldier,
and without
any
proof he charges the
Commander of
his unit as being
corrupt and
having
deliberately
expunged and changed
military
records
and
individual
soldier's service
records
to cover
inherent
dishonesty in the Armed
Forces
during the Vietnam war and
in
modern
times.
He sensationalised his book
by
claiming that details of a "unit"
he
served
with
in
Vietnam for
about
six weeks
had been
corruptly
expunged
from Military
records. The
media
and some
gullible
veterans and a
couple of politicians
believed
Tate's
stupidity.
The
accused ex Army
Officers
being
too
polite
to enter into
such
a
ridiculous
argument have
remained
silent.
One apparent renegade ex
Brigadier
chose
to
directly
support
Tate's
quest, in
doing
so, he is
supporting
the
assertions
of corruption by his
peers in
Vietnam. Brigadier
Neil
Weekes
went
as far as
being
photographed at the Australian
War
Memorial
with
Tate
and his
mates.
See
the
photo.
Brigadier Neil Weekes is
on
the left then
ex
Privates
Bigwood, Colmer, Tate
and
Lloyd-Thomas.
All
except
Weekes
were members
of the
D&E Platoon
at HQ 1 Australian
Task Force, Nui
Dat in 1969.
The
hirsute
Stetson bedecked
cowboy in the photo
is
Ted
Colmer
a
particularly
vicious ex copper and
member
of the Mad
Galahs and
Tate's
Brigade of villains.
(Colmer
may feature
on these pages
in the
near future.)
Five
members of
the 2nd D&E Platoon
-
4RAR's 'lost platoon' - from
left:
Neil Weekes; Richard
Bigwood;
Ted
Colmer; Don Tate;
Kevin
Lloyd-Thomas,
who met with The
Hon Mike
Kelly MP,
Parliamentary
Secretary for
Defence
Support,
at Parliament
House. After
extensive
investigations, Mr Kelly
formally
acknowledged
the
existence of the 2nd D&E
Platoon, and
is in the
process
of
ensuring
that it is
correctly
recorded
in all the
historical
accounts,
along
with its
membership,
leadership, and
the historical
record of its actions
against the enemy in
Vietnam
39
years
ago.
Weekes must have known when the
photo was taken that these cowboys were wrong about the
formal existence of a
2nd D&E
Platoon and that they
were all part
of the one and only
D&E
Platoon.
The
Task Force
Commander simply
split his force as best suited the
tactical
situation. The name
2nd D&E Platoon was
bestowed on
the group as a
nick name
only, and
required no
formal or separate listing by the
Task Force
Commander.
Tate is part of the Mad Galah group
who have said over and over that the Military is innately
corrupt and controlled
by a
consortium of current and ex
Senior
Defence Officers who
are also
Freemasons. He and
his
mates refer to these people as the "Generalissimos". His
and his mate's assertions are straight from Disney
Land;
however they have
convinced
the less
erudite veterans that
it is
true.
It is a fact that Tate and
the Mad
Galahs are steered (if not
controlled) by at least
two
retired
Brigadiers whose
motives
are beyond
comprehension. On instructions from his
"Brigalissimo"
mates Tate has shut
his gob in recent
times, however his
impending
second
book
selling
tour
has restarted his
insulting
carping.
We
ask
the
"Brigalissimos" to
please
control
their troops.
Tate's book marketing
campaign for
his autobiographical
book depends on his
sensational and
tawdry false
disclosures
of
corruption
and
dishonesty
among
Army Officers.
Here are some of the
accusations
made by Tate and, by
association, supported by
the
"Brigallisimos"
.
"about being an infantryman
in
Vietnam - one of the most
unpopular wars this nation
ever
fought- of blatant
army
incompetence, and medal-grabbing
by
officers,"
"There's something
dreadfully wrong
with a system that
encourages officers to
lie, that
encourages people to make
false entries in historical
documents."
"The records of the men in this
platoon were falsified, leaving no official record of the
Platoon's
existence."
Tate also said
in
an
email
on the
8
April
2008:
"If that's
being a
"community trouble-maker",
the author of that
letter has
led a
very sheltered
little life"
"I suspect
that my
desire to have the truth
about the 2nd D&E
Platoon
revealed has ruffled a
few
feathers, as to my campaign to
get
Jim Riddle
repatriated."
Inducing Jim
Riddle to
come to Australia
was a dishonest and
cynical
habeas
corpus move designed
only to
secure publicity for
your
book.
You did not
repatriate
Riddle, he was
never
an
Australian
citizen,
you
convinced the dills in the
Mad
Galah
movement to
lobby
politicians to get Riddle over
here to claim a medal
or
two and
solely to publicise to
the veteran community your
autobiography,
which
without
the
Riddle move and your
disgraceful
conspiracy
theories
no
veterans would ever
have
bothered
to
read.
Riddle is now
being
repatriated back to his
home in the United
Kingdom
after your money
grubbing
mercenary sales campaign almost
killed him.
You are indeed
a
"community
trouble-maker"
and
all
your
trouble
is made
to
the
veteran
community
and all
in
the
name of
your self
enrichment through
the
sales of a
book.
Tate you are full of crap, however
you are admired for your evil malicious yet skillful
manipulation of the
"Brigallissimos"
politicians
and
the
Group of
misfit
conspiracy theorists
known
as the
Mad
Galahs, well
played, but the
play is so dirty the
stink will
follow
you
for
the rest
of your
life.
Don Tate.....Poor Don.....Nobody Has Had It As
Tough "From: Donald Tate To: Allen Petersen Sent: Thursday, 19 February 2009
3:41 PM Subject: a note for "Noel
McLaughlin"- Armoured Corps, I
suspect This is a message for a "Noel
McLaughlin" who hides in one of the Armoured Corps' web
sites and makes snide
little
comments from the safety of
the
group: On July 5th 2008, you posted a
comment relating to a Sergeant Stones I'd met briefly
whilst in Yeronga Military
Hospital
almost 40 years ago.
Because he was
in the Queensland
hospital, I
figured he
was a
Queenslander. I think that was a fair enough comment at
the
time. But no, an arsehole like you calls
me a "clown" who should've got his facts right (I was 20
at the time, you idiot,
and
recovering from war
wounds....what
were YOU doing at the
time?)... As far as I'm concerned, the facts
WERE right. Secondly, you also commented on the
"pseudo 2nd D&E Platoon".....well, given that the
platoon is now FORMALLY
recognised
in the histories of the
war as a
legitimate platoon and
its combat
record
"enshrined in the
histories" now- by former Army officer, Mike Kelly MP
no
less, doesn't it make you look
like the jackass you
are? Come out into the open, McLaughlin,
and make your comments on the wider veteran web- if you're
half
a
man,
and
I
don't
suspect you
are. I'll be out
and
about
during the year-
grab a
few
mates
to hide
behind,
and introduce
yourself. Don Tate Don
Tate author, "The War
Within"" Tate is the jackass in this matter
because ex Legal Officer and now politician The Hon Mike
Kelly MP has erred in
his comments
about the "2nd D&E
Platoon". The
Australian
War
Memorial
(AWM)
has
different
ideas
about what Kelly
said on the 29th
May 2008. A senior
AWM
official
wrote
on
the 2
Jul
2008: "AWM 2 Jul
2008 From:
@awm.gov.au]
Sent: Wednesday, 2 July 2008
18:53 To: Regards Xxxxxxxx"
Donald Tate is one of
the most
obnoxious and blatantly
mercenary veterans to pop
up in
the
veteran community in
recent
times. He is
about to
launch another
book selling
campaign
and true to
form has
launched
another timely hate session
to
raise
his
profile and
sell
his
book.Read the email he
sent on
19
Feb
2009.
Subject: Re: 2nd DE Pl and Official
History
1. The combined
infantry-armour night ambush near Thua Tich on 29/30 May
1969 (during Operation
Garry Owen)
by soldiers of the
D&E Platoon
and 2 Troop, B
Squadron, 3
Cavalry
Regiment is
comprehensively covered
in the final
official
history
volume,
Fighting
to
the Finish (expected
release in
2009). This
was a
significant
action
for a
number of
reasons and
warrants such
an
extensive
coverage
and
analysis.
The
official
history notes that a
group
of
D&E
Platoon soldiers
involved in that
action later
called
themselves,
unofficially:
"Second
D&E
Platoon".
2. An exhaustive
search of
relevant records in the
Australian War Memorial
collections
(roll books,
commander's
diaries,
establishment tables, etc.)
found
no
documentary
evidence
of the
formation or
existence
of a
"Second
D&E
Platoon".
A
single
D&E Platoon
was
recorded as a
sub-unit under command of
Headquarters Company
in the
1ATF
order of battle and
establishment
records.
The
existence of
the D&E
Platoon and
its actions
has never
been in
doubt. It is
well
documented in unit and task
force
operational records as
well as
the
official
history
to
be
released in
2009.
3. Given the advice
supplied
by the Australian War
Memorial and the Army
History Unit,
I cannot account for
the
announcement
on
29
May
2008
by
the Hon Dr Mike
Kelly,
Parliamentary
Secretary for Defence
Support,
confirming that
the
government and
the Defence
Department
have
been
able
to determine that the
2nd
D&E
Platoon "did
indeed
exist
and engaged in a series
of
important actions in
Vietnam as
part of the
Australian
Task
Force."
4. The order of battle,
compiled
from official records, will
remain
unchanged
in
the
army
volumes
of the official
history.
Tate has said he
enlisted into
the Army after
watching news of the 1968 Tet
offensive,specifically
requesting to
serve with
Royal
Australian
Infantry in
Vietnam. He
got
his
wish,
was
enlisted and
following
training was
dispatched
to
Vietnam
as an Infantry
soldier.
Tate was
severely wounded in action
after
around
seven
months in
Vietnam and his
career as
a soldier
ended.
It is notable that in 95% of
his
emails he reminds
everybody
that he
was wounded. There were
around 2025
other
men Wounded in
Action in
Vietnam
none of
these seem
to
advertise the fact
as
strongly or as often as Tate.
Tate's traumatic experience
in
Vietnam has dogged him all his
life as it has many
thousands of
other
uncomplaining
soldiers.
Tate
has
exhibited bizarre behaviour
over
many
years; however his
greatest
sin
has been to wrongly
accuse many
hard
working
Army
Officers of
being grossly
corrupt and dishonest in
the
discharge of their
duties in
Vietnam.
Tate has
all the
experience of a very
junior
Private
soldier,
and without
any
proof he charges the
Commander of
his unit as being
corrupt and
having
deliberately
expunged and changed
military
records
and
individual
soldier's service
records
to cover
inherent
dishonesty in the Armed
Forces
during the Vietnam war and
in
modern
times.
He sensationalised his book
by
claiming that details of a "unit"
he
served
with
in
Vietnam for
about
six weeks
had been
corruptly
expunged
from Military
records. The
media
and some
gullible
veterans and a
couple of politicians
believed
Tate's
stupidity.
The
accused ex Army
Officers
being
too
polite
to enter into
such
a
ridiculous
argument have
remained
silent.
One apparent renegade ex
Brigadier
chose
to
directly
support
Tate's
quest, in
doing
so, he is
supporting
the
assertions
of corruption by his
peers in
Vietnam. Brigadier
Neil
Weekes
went
as far as
being
photographed at the Australian
War
Memorial
with
Tate
and his
mates.
See
the
photo.
Brigadier Neil Weekes is
on
the left then
ex
Privates
Bigwood, Colmer, Tate
and
Lloyd-Thomas.
All
except
Weekes
were members
of the
D&E Platoon
at HQ 1 Australian
Task Force, Nui
Dat in 1969.
The
hirsute
Stetson bedecked
cowboy in the photo
is
Ted
Colmer
a
particularly
vicious ex copper and
member
of the Mad
Galahs and
Tate's
Brigade of villains.
(Colmer
may feature
on these pages
in the
near future.)
Weekes must have known when the
photo was taken that these cowboys were wrong about the
formal existence of a
2nd D&E
Platoon and that they
were all part
of the one and only
D&E
Platoon.
The
Task Force
Commander simply
split his force as best suited the
tactical
situation. The name
2nd D&E Platoon was
bestowed on
the group as a
nick name
only, and
required no
formal or separate listing by the
Task Force
Commander.
Tate is part of the Mad Galah group
who have said over and over that the Military is innately
corrupt and controlled
by a
consortium of current and ex
Senior
Defence Officers who
are also
Freemasons. He and
his
mates refer to these people as the "Generalissimos". His
and his mate's assertions are straight from Disney
Land;
however they have
convinced
the less
erudite veterans that
it is
true.
It is a fact that Tate and
the Mad
Galahs are steered (if not
controlled) by at least
two
retired
Brigadiers whose
motives
are beyond
comprehension. On instructions from his
"Brigalissimo"
mates Tate has shut
his gob in recent
times, however his
impending
second
book
selling
tour
has restarted his
insulting
carping.
We
ask
the
"Brigalissimos" to
please
control
their troops.
Tate's book marketing
campaign for
his autobiographical
book depends on his
sensational and
tawdry false
disclosures
of
corruption
and
dishonesty
among
Army Officers.
Here are some of the
accusations
made by Tate and, by
association, supported by
the
"Brigallisimos"
.
"about being an infantryman
in
Vietnam - one of the most
unpopular wars this nation
ever
fought- of blatant
army
incompetence, and medal-grabbing
by
officers,"
"There's something
dreadfully wrong
with a system that
encourages officers to
lie, that
encourages people to make
false entries in historical
documents."
"The records of the men in this
platoon were falsified, leaving no official record of the
Platoon's
existence."
Tate also said
in
an
email
on the
8
April
2008:
"If that's
being a
"community trouble-maker",
the author of that
letter has
led a
very sheltered
little life"
"I suspect
that my
desire to have the truth
about the 2nd D&E
Platoon
revealed has ruffled a
few
feathers, as to my campaign to
get
Jim Riddle
repatriated."
Inducing Jim
Riddle to
come to Australia
was a dishonest and
cynical
habeas
corpus move designed
only to
secure publicity for
your
book.
You did not
repatriate
Riddle, he was
never
an
Australian
citizen,
you
convinced the dills in the
Mad
Galah
movement to
lobby
politicians to get Riddle over
here to claim a medal
or
two and
solely to publicise to
the veteran community your
autobiography,
which
without
the
Riddle move and your
disgraceful
conspiracy
theories
no
veterans would ever
have
bothered
to
read.
Riddle is now
being
repatriated back to his
home in the United
Kingdom
after your money
grubbing
mercenary sales campaign almost
killed him.
You are indeed
a
"community
trouble-maker"
and
all
your
trouble
is made
to
the
veteran
community
and all
in
the
name of
your self
enrichment through
the
sales of a
book.
Tate you are full of crap, however
you are admired for your evil malicious yet skillful
manipulation of the
"Brigallissimos"
politicians
and
the
Group of
misfit
conspiracy theorists
known
as the
Mad
Galahs, well
played, but the
play is so dirty the
stink will
follow
you
for
the rest
of your
life.