Rochester College’s Oakley Tarrant has been in the wars lately.
In 2022, like everyone else in town, he and his family were flooded out.
Then in June last year he was knocked out on the football field and needed surgery to put his broken jaw back together.
At football training this year he was caught in a sling tackle, had his shoulder dislocated and needed surgery to put it back together.
But he says he is in no doubt that will all pale by comparison in a few months when he joins four other students from the Murray Plains electorate of The Nationals’ leader Peter Walsh to walk the Kokoda Trail.
In 2023 Mr Walsh made the same walk and found it such a profound experience he returned home and established the Colin Sinclair Scholarship to provide young people from his electorate with the same opportunity.
He said the generous support of the Freemasons Foundation, the charitable arm of Freemasons Victoria, had funded the scholarship Oakley received.
It was organised by former Rochester Citizen of the Year John Glover, the man who has spearheaded the patriotic display at Rochester’s cemetery, where the grave of every veteran has an Australian flag ahead of Anzac Day.
Mr Glover, himself a veteran of overseas peacekeeping missions, retired as a wing commander with the RAAF and has been made a life member of the RSL.
“The scholarship is named in honour of Rochester’s Colin Sinclair, who fought and died on the Kokoda and whose family still lives in the town today,” Mr Walsh said.
“When I was at Bomona Cemetery at the end of my trek last year, it was my privilege to visit Colin’s grave on behalf of his family and his community and Oakley will be doing the same this year.
“Oakley was an outstanding applicant for the scholarship as his family is steeped in Australian military service, stretching from his mother Lana’s year in the RAAF to his great-great-grandfather George Napier in World War I.
“And his genuine interest in his family’s and his country’s history made him a standout during the interview process.”
At the weekend, Oakley met with Colin Sinclair’s descendants — his sister-in-law Hilma, nieces Jan Windridge and Wendy Foott and great-nephew Rick Windridge — to be congratulated on his selection for the trip.
He was still a little embarrassed about his reaction when he got the phone call telling him he had made the cut.
“All I could get out was ‘awesome’,” he said.
“I must have said it six times before I came up with something extra.
“But I just can’t wait to go. It is an incredible opportunity and I have started training already.”
That included persuading his specialist to fast-track his shoulder surgery so he would be ready to go if he was given a scholarship.
And while he is still required to wear a sling to support the shoulder, he has already started a program working on his legs to prepare him for the days of steep climbing and equally steep descents to come when he reaches Papua New Guinea at the end of June.
Oakley also said he had a bit of a head start in understanding the scholarship, as his part-time job at Rochester IGA is often working alongside Jan Windridge.
“I would be grateful and honoured to walk in the footsteps of the brave people, including my great-grandfathers, who fought for Australia, and the more than 600 men who made the ultimate sacrifice and died on, or near, the Kokoda,” he said.
“Their sacrifice allows me to enjoy the life I live today.
“My great-grandfather, Percival John Napier, served in the 17th Light Horse Machine Gun Regiment and later in the RAAF (41683) until 1946.
“He was posted to 6 Squadron on November 22, 1943, and served in Goodenough (Solomon Islands) and Papua New Guinea until he was wounded in action.
“Poppy was awarded 1939-45 Star, Pacific Star, War Medal 1939-45, Australia Service Medal 1939-45, Pacific Star ribbons and Return from Active Service Badge and my brother and sister and I take turns wearing his miniature medals every Anzac Day.
“I would also like to become physically, mentally and emotionally stronger and see how far I can push myself.
“I hope it will help me on the path to becoming the best version of myself I can be as a person, son, brother, grandson, friend, leader and a role model. And hopefully I will be able to use this to also benefit my family, my friends, my school and my community.”