Foundation team experiences adventure Kokoda style.

Keith Payne VC, OAM welcomes the Kokoda Challenge Kids

Keith Payne VC, OAM was recently in Kokoda to congratulate and welcome the Kokoda Challenge Kids that just completed trekking Kokoda with Kokoda Spirit.

Keith Payne VC, OAM has being working very closely with Kokoda Challenge Foundation Chairman Doug Henderson in facilitating the world class Kokoda Challenge Youth Program. Keith was a guest at Kokoda of the Kokoda Challenge Association.

Kokoda Spirit CEO Wayne Wetherall whose company is the trekking partner of the Kokoda Challenge Youth Program was also present to congratulate the kids on their fantastic achievement.

Wetherall went on to say “that it was a very humbling and empowering experience to spend time with the Kokoda Challenge Kids, their stories and journeys are powerful, this program changes kids lives, it gives them the tools and opportunities to change their world.”

Wetherall also commented “to meet and have the opportunity to spend two days with Keith was very humbling and inspirational”. “On first meeting Keith I addressed him as Sir, but he quickly asked me to call him Keith.
Wayne Wetherall and Doug Henderson along with the Port Moresby RSL Sub branch hosted an evening function in honour of Keith Payne VC, OAM in Port Moresby.

To find out more about the Kokoda Challenge Foundation and the Kokoda Challenge Youth Program.

Kokoda Spirit is the trekking partner for the Kokoda Challenge Foundation and the Kokoda Challenge Youth Program.

Keith Payne VC, OAM with the Kokda Spirit team

About Keith Payne VC, OAM

Keith Payne was born at Ingham, Queensland, on 30 August 1933. He attended Ingham State School and later became an apprentice cabinet-maker. Unsatisfied with working as a tradesman, Payne joined the army in August 1951 and was posted to the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in September the following year.

Payne served with his unit in Korea between April 1952 and March 1953. He married Florence Plaw, a member of the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps, in December 1954, was promoted to corporal the following year and returned to operational duties when he joined the 3rd Battalion in February 1960. Payne served in Malaya with this unit and in 1965, now a sergeant, he joined the 5th Battalion. In June 1965, by now a Company Sergeant-Major, Payne was posted as an instructor to the Officer Training Unit at Scheyville, NSW. In February 1967 he joined the 2nd Pacific Islands Regiment in Papua New Guinea and remained there until March 1968 when he returned to Brisbane. On 24 February 1969 he was appointed to the Australian Army Training Team in Vietnam.

In May that year he was commanding the 212th Company of the 1st Mobile Strike Force Battalion when it was attacked by a strong North Vietnamese force. His company was isolated and, surrounded on three sides, Payne's Vietnamese troops began to fall back. Payne, by now wounded in the hands and arms and under heavy fire, covered the withdrawal before organising his troops into a defensive perimeter. He then spent three hours scouring the scene of the day's fight for isolated and wounded soldiers, all the while evading the enemy who kept up regular fire. He found some forty wounded men, brought some in himself and organised the rescue of the others, leading the party back to base through enemy dominated terrain. Years later, asked whether he was afraid, Payne replied, "My God yes, yes, I was."

Payne's actions that night earned him the Victoria Cross. He was evacuated to Brisbane in September suffering from an illness, receiving a warm reception at the airport before entering hospital. In January 1970 Payne was posted to the Royal Military College Duntroon as an instructor.

Payne received his VC from the Queen aboard the Royal Yacht, Britannia, in Brisbane. He was made a Freeman of the city and of the shire in which his hometown was located. A park in Stafford, Brisbane, where Payne lived was also named after him. He received the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star from the United States and the Republic of Vietnam awarded Payne the Cross of Gallantry with Bronze Star. He retired from the army in 1975, but saw further action as a captain with the Army of the Sultan of Oman in the Dhofar War.

Payne returned to Australia and became active in the veteran community, particularly in counselling sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder. Payne and his wife raised five sons and are now living at Mackay in Queensland.

2010 Kokoda Challenge Foundation

Kokoda Spirit is once again proud to be associated with the Kokoda Challenge Foundation and the Kokoda Challenge Youth Program.

Kokoda Spirit is the trekking partner for the Kokoda Challenge Foundation and the Kokoda Challenge Youth Program.

KOKODA CHALLENGE FOUNDATION Mission

To promote the Kokoda Spirit, especially to the benefit of the youth of Australia.

The Major Goals of The KOKODA CHALLENGE FOUNDATION

Raise public awareness of the importance of the 1942 Kokoda campaign to the Australian people.
Identify young Australians at a crossroads in their life and provide support to help them reach their potential.
Support the Kokoda community and the descendants of the Fuzzy Wuzzy angels.

The KOKODA CHALLENGE FOUNDATION Values

Courage

We support and encourage our people to stay the course even when times are tough.

Endurance

We believe that tests of endurance are a way to promote personal growth.

Mateship

We believe in the value of teamwork and of providing support for each other.

Sacrifice

We are an organisation that is built on the sacrifice of volunteers and the community spirit this inspires.

Environment

We value the natural environment and aim for all our activities to have a minimal environmental impact.

Youth

We believe in the potential of our youth to create a positive future.

The KOKODA CHALLENGE FOUNDATION background

The Kokoda Challenge Association is a not for profit organisation that was formed by founder and Chairman, Doug Henderson in January 2005.

In July 2004, Doug was at an RSL conference when a guest speaker spoke of Australia's military history, in particular the battle of the Kokoda Track and the Pacific Campaign.

Doug, who has been at the forefront of Veterans issues for the past decade, was profoundly affected by what he heard and overcome by shame about the fact that so few Australians knew the real story of how significant the Kokoda military campaign was to Australia's history.

Doug was compelled to be involved in promoting awareness of the Kokoda Track and believed that incorporating young Australians was the key to raising the profile of the history of Kokoda.

The Kokoda Challenge Association was established in January 2005 with two main aims;

To educate youth and raise general public awareness of the gallant victory by Australian soldiers in 1942 on the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea – a victory which undoubtedly saved Australia from Japanese occupation.
To identify young Australians who are at a crossroad and support them through a 12 month community counsel – The Kokoda Challenge Youth Program. This requires the participants selected to undertake a 12 month commitment to a community program, designed and supported by the Kokoda Challenge Association, which encourages participants to develop self-awareness within the wider community and prepare them for the challenges of life. The Kokoda Challenge Youth Program culminates in the participants using the skills and training to undertake the challenge of walking the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea.

To enable to Kokoda Challenge Association to achieve these main aims it was decided that funds would be raised by conducting a yearly Queensland Kokoda Challenge Event – to be held in the Gold Coast Hinterland.

Funds raised from this event finance the cost of the Kokoda Challenge Youth Program, which includes training and bush camps and the associated costs of travel to Papuan New Guinea to walk the Kokoda Track.