On Wednesday, June 15 the World War II veteran was visited by two soldiers from the Puckapunyal Military Area — where Mr Sutton himself trained.
To commend his bravery for serving in New Guinea from 1941 to 1943, Mr Sutton was presented with a personalised Aussie Hero Quilt by Lieutenant Kurt O’Neill and Sergeant Steven Banks.
The quilt was created by volunteers from the charity Aussie Hero Quilts, which provides handmade designs to past and present veterans in an act of honour and appreciation.
The sight of the two soldiers in his home dressed in full military attire brought a tear to Mr Sutton’s eye, his pride glowing.
“Just to see the soldiers, dressed like this, it makes me feel very proud to see you fellas in uniform, because I know what it means,” he said.
“And thank you — it means a lot to see.”
Mr Sutton has lived in the Numurkah area all his life, leaving only during his time training at Puckapunyal and serving in New Guinea.
While Mr Sutton served with the 58/59 Battalion, his brother served in the Middle East, both having followed in their father’s footsteps.
“My dad fought in France in the first world war and won the Military Medal for his bravery as a runner to get messages from the front to the headquarters,” he said.
“It’s good to carry on what he had already been through ... we all pulled our weight to get through, so we were lucky.”
Mr Sutton reflected on his time in the war.
He remembered how it rained non-stop in New Guinea, how no-one came down with a cold because of the balmy heat.
He remembered his training, walking all the way from Albury to Seymour over the span of a week.
Mostly, he remembered losing many of his mates in New Guinea.
But even so, he said he had been “pretty lucky, really”.
“I wouldn’t like to go through it again,” he said.
“It was pretty hard on our mates; we couldn’t do much more, we’d just have to go along, keep going.”
His post-war life has been vibrant and varied.
He and his wife, Loris, had three children, all of whom have stayed relatively close to the region.
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