Babies of the Rose

James Kite is a Vietnam veteran. He’s alone and at the end of his life, haunted by his role in the death of a mentally disabled Vietnamese boy during the War. Grace Moore spent her teenage years hiding her body before becoming a plus size model and getting the attention she’d always craved. After she’s assaulted during a street robbery, she finds herself in a new battle, with depression. The Soldier is a serving military professional. After a failed suicide attempt, he returns to duty in Afghanistan. One day while on patrol in the mountains, he cradles a local woman as she dies — an event that follows him home to his wife and newborn child. James, Grace and the Soldier meet on Anzac Day while watching the dawn service at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance. Has fate brought them together for one last chance at finding peace?

Justin is a Melbourne based journalist, broadcaster and writer. He’s currently the presenter of a national radio program across the Macquarie Network (2GB, 3AW, 4BC, 6PR), a columnist with the Melbourne Herald Sun, and a weekly guest on Seven’s Sunrise program and Sky News Australia. He has covered Australia’s war history through his writing and broadcasting — including Afghanistan in 2013 when he was embedded with Australian troops, for which he received an award from Commercial Radio Australia, and a live national broadcast of the 100-year Gallipoli ceremony.