Book » Full Circle for Mick

In very early January of 1904 Fritz Kramer arrived at Tsingtao in northern China. He was working for F.H Schmidt, a German engineering company which specialised in the building of railways, steel bridges, jetties, and canal work. He knew that it was critical for his Chinese workforce to have the Buddhist religion preached to them to them in order to have harmonious relationships among the workers. So, he hired a Vietnamese Buddhist Monk to offer spiritual guidance for his Chinese workforce. At the completion of the railway in early January in of 1907 and after receiving a promotion from his employer, he was sent to Namibia.

After WW2 ended, his son, Friedrich (Fritz) Kramer the younger and his family migrated to Australia. In 1967, the grandson of engineer Fritz Kramer the elder lied about his age in order to serve with the Australian infantry forces in Vietnam. While in the field with the First Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR), he met an old Buddhist monk who was the son of Hao An Dung, the Buddhist Monk who worked for his grandfather. Mick Kramer had served with 1RAR and returned to Austrralia. After time, he qualified as an engineer before returning to Vietnam and putting right his karma.