Vietnam vet Mick Kramer fought for Australia, but he's been denied a passport

news.com.au ^ | 26th August 2013 | Ian McPhedran

[naturalman1975]

A VIETNAM Veteran - who altered the date on his naturalisation certificate so he could fight for Australia - has been denied a passport more than 45 years later.

The change of date scrawled in pen didn't stop the Australian Army from sending German-born Mick Kramer to war in 1967, but decades later officials not only refused him a passport they even threatened him with jail for "falsifying a document".

[naturalman1975]

It's a pretty absurd situation - in 1967, Australian law still considered somebody a minor until they were 21, and so voluntarily enlisting in the armed forces required permission of a parent or guardian.

But at the time, Australia had conscription - and the age at which a man could be conscripted was, in fact, 20, which is how old Mr Kramer was at the time.

[piytar]

Stupid bureaucrats with power. BTW, what is the definition of power? The ability to inflict suffering on others. Orwell 1984.

[Sherman Logan]

This is exactly the type of situation the pardon power should deal with. Where enforcing the letter of the law produces an unjust result.

[Gay State Conservative]

This is exactly the type of situation the pardon power should deal with.

Pardon power? More like: have him plead "guilty" to some *civil* (not criminal) infraction that carries a $50 fine and then the matter's closed.

[OldNewYork]

Bizarre. Surely this can be fixed.

[naturalman1975]

The problem does seem to be bureaucracy. He has not been charged with an offence, and there doesn’t seem to be any intention of doing so - I think the basic desire to fix the problem is there. They just won’t show any flexibility on the requirements - he can’t give them his German birth certificate in a format acceptable to the Australian government, because Germany doesn’t release such documents in that format. But they keep insisting that’s what they have to do.

I don’t know how long he’s been trying, but Australia is currently in ‘caretaker government’ mode because of our election in two weeks - during the caretaker period, bureaucrats only make non-routine decisions if they can’t be delayed until after the election. Maybe that is making some difference.

[Tax-chick]

Plenty of American soldiers lied about their age in the old days. One would hate to think it affected their lives in the long term!

[naturalman1975]

Update on this situation from a year and a half ago. Mr Kramer has had his citizenship rights restored and a new passport issued. It took a while, but justice has been done in the end.