“The Pause That Refreshes”: American Servicemen on R&R in Australia, 1967–1971

Abstract

Nearly 10% of the 3 million Americans who served in Vietnam spent one week of “R&R” leave in Australia—principally in Sydney. This “friendly invasion” constitutes a substantial neglected legacy of the conflict. Across dozens of oral history interviews and memoirs, US servicemen recall with fondness their week-long respite in a nation that was at once comfortably familiar and safely distinct. Their preconceptions of Australia were framed by racialised and sexualised imaginaries. Comforted by the prospect of spending time in a predominantly “White” nation, White Americans were candid about their desire to enjoy the company of Australian women. At the same time, perceptions of Australian racism and immigration exclusion framed the expectations of African American servicemen. Reality, however, was more complicated, and undermines easy assumptions. While Australian memory of the scheme centres on its supposedly dramatic role in Sydney's nightlife district, Kings Cross, the experiences of Americans were far more diverse than such narratives would suggest. Perhaps surprisingly, the experiences of African American and Latino servicemen in Australia were also frequently welcoming and non-discriminatory. Individual Australians were more colour-blind in their everyday interactions than their governments, reinforcing scholarly findings regarding the reception of Black servicemen during the Second World War.