That was until he saw what war was really like.
In March 1968 the now Tocumwal local was posted in South Vietnam.
For 12 months he served in many different locations as a radio technician.
“There was no safe location while I was there,” he said.
“Throughout 1968 there were constant rocket attacks on the communications sites I worked at.
“It was at a fire support base that a good friend of mine lost his life during a mortar attack.”
Technicians like Mr Grayson were required to go to the fire support bases to provide communications between locations.
The base’s elevated 50 foot high relay antennas were very visible from a distance and made for an “easy target”.
Mr Grayson joined the Army at just 15 years-old, in January 1964.
He enlisted at an Army apprentice school in Balcombe on the Mornington Peninsular, where he participated in his four year apprenticeship training as a radio mechanic.
It was in his fourth year that he was sent to Vietnam.
He returned to Australia in March 1969, and Mr Grayson said the welcome home Vietnam veterans received was less than deserved.
“What still makes me angry is the way we were treated there (in Vietnam) and when we returned home,” he said.
“While I was overseas, wharfs refused to load resupply ships and posties refused to hand out mail for several weeks.
“I didn’t receive anything from home for about eight weeks.”
Mr Grayson and several other soldiers returned home on a QANTAS 707 at around midnight, and were made to wear ‘civies’ instead of their uniforms.
“Up until the early 1970s we were not allowed to leave an Army camp to go to, for example a bank, unless we wore civilian clothing.
“We were treated like this because of the Labor party opposing our involvement in the South Vietnam conflict.
“However, I was a professional solider and would have thought that Australians supported our troops overseas.”
Mr Grayson continued to serve with the Army on his return from the war, retiring 20 years later as Warrant Officer Class 1.
Even now, after having worked as a civilian for 20 years, Mr Grayson still views himself as a “retired soldier”.
Mr Grayson and other Vietnam veterans will be honoured at special ceremonies across the country on Friday to mark Vietnam Veterans Day.
The date, August 18 each year, recognises the anniversary of the 1966 Battle of Long Tan.
Historical information provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs tells us the men of Delta Company, 6th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, faced a force of some 2000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops that day.
The battle was fought in wet and muddy conditions during a heavy tropical downpour.
By the end of the day, 17 Australians had been killed in action and 25 were wounded. One died in the days following.
This was the largest number of casualties in a single operation since the Australian Task Force had established its base at nearby Nui Dat the previous April.
The Tocumwal RSL will host a service from 3pm this Friday.
Following the service everyone is welcome to enjoy refreshments and great raffles in the hall. which will be open until 6.30pm.
A Vietnam Veterans Day service is also being held in Finley on Saturday from 11am at Memorial Park. It will be paired with a celebration of 100 years of the Finley War Memorial Obelisk.
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