Ric was born in 1947 in Victoria, Australia, and raised on a dairy farm before his family relocated to Western Australia when he was 14. Leaving school at 15, he worked a wide variety of jobs — from stockman and truck driver to cray fisherman and shearer — before joining the Australian Regular Army at 23, serving 15 months in Vietnam as a machine gunner, then transitioning into the Military Police and criminal investigations. After 15 years in the army, he moved into corporate security with Telstra, then into private enterprise through a series of ventures including irrigation contracting, manufacturing, and retail franchises. His personal life brought significant hardship: a marriage breakdown, mental health struggles, the 2011 Brisbane floods, and the early loss of his second wife. Through online dating he found Therese, whom he married during Covid, but by 2025 his PTSD, anxiety, and depression led to two suicide attempts and a psychiatric hospitalisation. With Therese’s steadfast support and professional treatment, Ric is now recovering, and the couple live contentedly on the Gold Coast with their Golden Retriever, Mintie.
Ric J. Frawley
About The Author
I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up
From the rugged Australian outback to the battlefields of Vietnam, this gripping military autobiography follows one man’s journey through war, trauma, and the lifelong fight to reclaim his sense of self. Raised in a post-war world and shaped by hard labor, discipline, and loss, he joins the Australian Army with a simple purpose: serve, survive, and come home. What follows is a raw and unfiltered Vietnam War memoir that reveals the courage, chaos, and consequences of combat.
I Still Don’t Know What I Want to Be When I Grow Up…
Book 2: Now I know.
I Still Don’t Know What I Want to Be When I Grow Up… Book 2: Now I Know is a gripping Vietnam War memoir and Vietnam veteran autobiography that follows an Australian infantry soldier from rural Australia to the jungles of Nui Dat Vietnam. Serving with 3 RAR Vietnam and 4 RAR Vietnam, Ric J. Frawley delivers a direct account of Australian infantry Vietnam operations, jungle patrols, ambush missions, and grenades and gun training under real combat pressure.
Latest Post
