GREENBANK RSL stalwart Gary Aldridge has paid tribute to his colleagues after receiving the Order of Australia Medal.
Mr Aldridge said everyone who worked to ensure veterans received entitlements deserved similar honours.
The Bethania man has battled throat cancer for the past three-and-a-half years, the result of exposure to Agent Orange and asbestos while serving with the navy. He was named in the Australia Day honours list on Tuesday.
Mr Aldridge's medal was for services to war veterans and their families.
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He said he was gobsmacked by the news, and dedicated his medal to all those who worked alongside him for the cause.
"For me, it's all to do with the welfare of the diggers," he said.
"Those who work in the welfare section - I reckon they should all get a medal."
Mr Aldridge joined the navy in 1959, and saw service in Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, Borneo and the present Malaysia in nine years.
A medical discharge in 1968 left Mr Aldridge questioning what to do with civilian life.
He has fought for the rights of veterans ever since, saying many ended up on the scrapheap after putting their lives on the line for their country.
"Unless you have been in the armed forces, you can't comprehend the angst of servicemen as they are exiting the service, trying to get entitlements for the injuries they sustained," he said.
He watched step father Colin Bird fight for compensation from the air force in the years before his service. Mr Aldridge said those problems, and his own, were the catalyst for helping others in similar positions.
"They are not made aware of what the RSL can do for them," the former president said.
"They all think we're a bunch of fogeys who are all past it and just on the beers."
Dwindling numbers, with veterans dying and not many coming through to replace them, was a serious problem for the organisation.
Mr Aldridge said had served in every trusted position in the RSL sub-branch, along with the Greenbank sub-section of the Naval Association of Australia.
Mr Aldridge has also sat on the Greenbank RSL board.
He paid tribute to wife Barbara, without whom he said he would not be able to dedicate time to the RSL.
"She is the one who gave me the time to do all I have done," he said.
"Without our wives allowing us time to do these things, they just wouldn't happen. They take time."
The couple has five children - Karen, Robert, Rhonda, Brett and Linda - and seven grandchildren.
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