Death Without Reason

There is a difference between Reason and Purpose as explanations for things that happen; Aristotle defined these as Primary and Final Causes. This book builds an argument that, while Major Vincent Hunt was supervising the killing of Vietnamese communists between 1966 and 1967, he struggled with finding a morally valid purpose in his own life as he was extinguishing the life of others with whom he had no quarrel. He realised there was no reason for him to continue doing this obscene work for his government except an overwhelming sense of gratitude for being given citizenship in Australia after migrating from Britain after WW2. His was one of the 10-pound-Pom families. In re-inventing himself after he quit Vung Tau, he set about absolving himself with a program of atonement directed at extinguishing the lives of people in Adelaide, South Australia, who'd escaped retribution for violence against young people. SAPOL's Major Crime Division labelled the killings Vigilante, but never understood the real motivation which lay behind them.