"If they called me back I'd answer the call, it sounds crazy but I'm Australian," 74-year-old Anthony 'Tony' Ang, said.
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The ex-army reservist served 38-and-a-half years in the military and had an active full-time service in East Timor as a corporal, before moving to Lithgow to work on the Bathurst Bullet train and retire.
"I went to East Timor when the Indonesians gave the East Timorese people the choice to vote for Indonesia or vote for independence.
He said the people of Timor were beautiful and looked after the soldiers.
"They are absolutely beautiful and to me, they were worth fighting for. They done us so much good," he said.
During his service, Tony said he had some traumatic experiences and being shot at was not the worst.
"Being shot at wasn't traumatic, it only was when they hit you, or you didn't see the bullet that hit you.
"But, I saw things you shouldn't have to see," he said.
He said when he arrived home from Timor and went back to work people would often ask what he did while overseas.
"I would reply and say I done my duty.
"Any soldier that comes back from war and says they're all right and nothing is wrong them, don't believe it," he said.
Tony said at the time he didn't think too much about what he had encountered but 20 years later it came back to him.
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"It's changed my attitude on a few things but other than those traumatic experiences I have had a good life, I was lucky to come home.
"I was a good soldier and I love the army," he said.
Tony comes from an army family and said his son was currently serving in Afghanistan.
"We're an army family, my wife's family were army, my family were army," he said.
Tony's wife's uncle was a tail gunner in a bomber whose life expectancy was said to be less than two weeks.
He is still alive and is 96 years-old.
"He'd have to be a damn good shot, what a good bloke," Tony said.
Tony said coming to Remembrance or ANZAC Day celebrations often flooded him with emotions.
"It gets to me, all my friends are army.
"It takes me back, I had a section of 10 men, we use to live in each others back pocket - you look after my back, I'll look after yours, one person gets into a fight, we all get into a fight.
"We all backed each other up," he said.