What this Vietnam vet learned from his time serving Australia

"I can honestly state that I never ever saw or heard of any racism while I was in the army," Mr Bartley told the Daily Liberal.

"There was only one colour, that colour was green."

The 76-year-old Bourke local said growing in Wellington and Bourke in the 1950s and 1960s was "tough" for Indigenous people.

"When I was a kid I lived on the reserve with a dirt floor and we had to walk about a mile to go to school and if we were lucky, we'd have something to take for lunch," he said.

"The one who felt it more than anything is my mum because she is third generation Scottish, pure white as the driven snow living with a black fellow... it wasn't the done thing in those days.

"The white people didn't like her living with the black people, because we had to live on the Aboriginal reserve in Bourke... our first accommodation - if you'd like to call it that - was a water tank cut up with a wool pack hanging down the front like a door."

But the course of Mr Bartley's life changed when he joined the army in 1968, at age 21.

He had actually tried to join the army two years earlier when he received a letter saying his number had come up for national service. However, he was turned down as - at the time - Indigenous people were exempt from service.

The following year, in 1967, Aboriginal people were finally recognised as Australian citizens. But when Mr Bartley signed up to serve again he still lied about his Aboriginality, saying he was of British descent.

He was accepted and spent six years in the army. He was one of about five Indigenous men in his regiment.

"Those six years in the army, I wouldn't trade for anything. They made me what I am today," he said.

"You learn discipline, friendship, mateship, brotherhood and everything associated with it. Joining the army is a big thing and unless you actually served your country, you can't know what it's like."

With the controversy of the war, Mr Bartley's regiment was met with less than thanks when they returned home. He recalls a time on ANZAC day in 1971 he and his mates were refused entry to the RSL Club after marching at the dawn service.

"We walked up the steps and went to go in and a bloke asked us 'where are you guys going?' and we said 'here' and he said, 'no, you're not coming in'," he said.

"One of my mates- a big aboriginal boy - just put his arm back and he was about to hit this bloody bloke. I said 'let's go' so we don't get in trouble with the cops... even back in those days, the police were very anti indigenous people.

"So we went to one of the local pubs and the publican asked us what we were doing... We explained the situation and he said 'everything's on me today, don't worry about it'.

It wouldn't be until 16 years later, in 1987, that they were given a welcome home parade in Sydney. Now, Mr Bartley is the president of the RSL's Bourke Sub-Branch - a role he has held since 2005.

"On ANZAC Day, when I'm doing the ceremonies and a kid or anyone else comes up and says to me, 'thank you for your service, it makes me proud as an Aboriginal Aussie in this country," he said.

"I go to the schools and talk to the kids about what it was like to be an Aboriginal person serving my country in Vietnam and emphasising the fact that from the Boer War, right up until today, Aboriginal men and women have served their country in wars and in peacekeeping roles."

Mr Bartley's commitment to service has also continued outside the military.

Wearing many hats in the Bourke community, he's director of the Bourke Aboriginal Corporation Health Service (BACHS), director of outback community radio network 2WEB Co-operative and a councillor on the Bourke Shire Council.

"I must be doing something right by the community because I get re-elected all the time," he said.

"I always want to be there to help anyone that comes up to me... even if someone hasn't voted for me. You have to do what you can for all of the community, not for a selected few."

He was one of 503 Australians to be awarded an Order of Australia Medal on January 26, 2024. Growing up a non-citizen in his own country, being awarded one of the nation's highest honours was the last thing he could have imagined.

"I felt very chuffed about getting something like that," Mr Bartley said.

"As an aboriginal person growing up when you're not even an Australian citizen in your own country - I was 20 years of age before I became an Australian citizen - and to get to this stage and to receive this recognition... I'm very pleased and I'm honoured and I'm humbled.

"I think the only times I've felt something similar was on two occasions - when my kids were born and when I went to Vietnam with my mates to serve our country."

Mr Bartley doesn't know who could have nominated him for the medal, but he said he's grateful to be recognised.

"I've had a fairly good life, and whilst I can I just want to give something back to the community and help those who are less fortunate than myself or others," he said.

"I am humbled to get this honour because I know that there are a lot more other people out there who do just as much as I do within the community or within their communities.

"My main aims in life now are my family... to make sure that my wife's ok. My kids are ok. My grandkids, my great grandkids and our two dogs."