John Schumann Champions Veterans 40 Years On From Chart-Topping Hit

When our soldiers go to war, we want to get them home in one piece. But for many diggers, the end of battle is just the start of their suffering.

John Schumann, the voice behind I Was Only 19 is back with another powerful anthem, and he's taking his fresh message on the road.

John Schumann, wrote and sang the Vietnam veterans’ anthem, ‘I Was Only 19’. Ostensibly, it was the story of Mick, Frankie and all the members of 3 Platoon, A Company, 6 RAR but it was a song that spoke to every Vietnam veteran. 19’s opening chords and emotive lyrics have the same impact today as they did when the song was released in 1983.

Now 42 years on, Schumann speaks again about the human cost of war and military service. In the aftermath of the Royal Commission into Veteran Suicide, he found another story that needed to be told. When a devastated mother testified about the loss of her son, Schumann once again took one young man’s experience to speak to a much wider issue.

‘Fishing Net In The Rain’ was written by Schumann, in collaboration with his friend and manager, Ivan Tanner. It tells the story one of the young sailors sent out by the Australian Government to “stop the boats”.

“While the song was inspired by David Finney, it’s really important to note that this song is about - and for - the thousands of current and former members of the ADF who have taken their own lives after serving Australia. And, perhaps more importantly, it’s for their families,” said Schumann.

A lifelong advocate for veterans and their families, Schumann put words to Ivan Tanner’s music to “bolt a human face” on to the recommendations of the Royal Commission.

John Schumann and The Vagabond Crew - Fishing Net In The Rain (Official Visualiser)

John Schumann knows a little bit about mental health and suicide. He spent ten years giving mental health presentations in remote mining sites and construction camps in Western Australia and South Australia.

“Suicide is an immensely difficult and delicate topic. I’m no psychiatrist or psychologist but I know from my clinician friends that people don’t want to end their lives. They just want the pain to stop,” said Schumann.

Schumann understands that his name was put forward to be a Commissioner by a couple of politicians and some veterans’ organisations but his nomination was rejected by then Prime Minister, Scott Morrison. Nonetheless, he followed the Commission with the idea of writing a song to shine a light on the tragedies.

In search of an entry point, John tracked down Julie-Ann Finney who, like Schumann, lives in Adelaide. She was one of the parents who campaigned for a Royal Commission, but would she talk to him and share David’s and her story?

“Julie-Ann knew of ‘19’, but after David died, she was going through his Spotify playlist and there I was - at the top of the list apparently,” said Schumann.

Julie-Ann shared David’s diaries, notes, Facebook posts and blogs with John.

“At one point, David was writing about his endless engagement with doctors and psychologists. He wrote in a Facebook post; ‘Sometimes I feel like I’m catching all the answers, sometimes it’s like holding a fishing net in the rain.”

“David’s story is just one of thousands. But all Australians need to confront these stories and then demand that our political leaders continue to move forward on implementing the Royal Commission’s recommendations.

“The run-up to the election is the perfect time to get politicians to commit to the recommendations in the spirit that they were written - rather than wordsmithed to death by bureaucrats in an attempt to make the implementations cheap and easy.”

“Otherwise, the tragedy of veterans taking their own lives will go on and on. And these people will have died in vain,” said John Schumann.

“We need to decide if ‘Lest We Forget’ are just words we say around Anzac Day or if they are a sacred promise that we, as a nation, keep in perpetuity regardless of cost and the passage of time.

John Schumann and The Vagabond Crew - Fishing Net In The Rain - Out Now.