The Wagga man was one of more than 1500 Australian military personnel sent to the war-ravaged African country, as part of a humanitarian mission.  

This Anzac Day, Mr Seymour will march behind a banner, representing those who served on Operation Solace in 1993. 

It will be the first time the Somalian flag has flown in Wagga.

The operation followed a UN call for assistance, as the African country struggled through famine, civil war and social anarchy. 

Mr Seymour, a former infantryman, said the state of the country was chaotic and akin to the Wild West, with bandits and warlords ruling through terror. 

“I can see it in my head,” Mr Seymour said.

“How do you describe desperation … when men, women and children are just fighting for a scrap of food.”

It came after War with Ethiopia, civil unrest and military rule had destroyed the economy, public services and peace across two decades. 

As the situation worsened, Australia joined the United States’ task force, sending troops to establish law and order. 

“Bandits would set up at water wells and food drops, selling the food and water back to the Somalians,” Mr Seymour said. 

“Our job was to support the trucks, taking aid to the community and making sure they weren’t ambushed.”

It was the first offshore deployment of an Australian battalion since Vietnam, with the First Royal Australian Regiment – 1RAR – setting up in the city of Baidoa.

“We rewrote the rules of combat in Somalia,” Mr Seymour said.

“Not only did we not know who the enemy was, they learned to hide their weapons and blend in among the villagers.”

He said the bandits would go as far as befriending the soldiers, acting peaceful and helpful until they left the area. 

“Then the guns would comeback out and it would be like we were never there,” Mr Seymour said.

“It was frustrating.”

What haunted Mr Seymour most when Australians left Somalia was the feeling they could have done more. 

“I thought we shouldn’t have left. We had so much more to offer,” he said. “That guilt followed me.” 

But he said a turning point came when he spoke with a Somalian refugee in Wagga years later. 

"This man was put in a shipping container with a group, bandits shot holes in it for air and left them overnight,” Mr Seymour said. “They spent the night in there with bodies.”

The man told Mr Seymour to never feel bad for the work he did or did not do. 

“He said: ‘You gave us hope’,” he said. “Those seeds of hope helped them see a better way of life, even for just six months.” 

Mr Seymour said Operation Solace would finally be recognised in Wagga this year.