25 April - ANZAC DAY - Lest we forget

[alice]

On 25 April every year, Australians commemorate ANZAC Day. It commemorates the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. The date, 25 April, was officially named ANZAC Day in 1916.
ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. In 1917, the word ANZAC meant someone who fought at Gallipoli and later it came to mean any Australian or New Zealander who fought or served in the First World War. During the Second World War, ANZAC Day1 became a day on which the lives of all Australians lost in war time were remembered. The spirit of ANZAC recognises the qualities of courage, mateship and sacrifice which were demonstrated at the Gallipoli landing.
Commemorative services are held at dawn on 25 April, the time of the original landing, across the nation, usually at war memorials. This was initiated by returned soldiers after the First World War in the 1920s as a common form of remembrance. The first official dawn service was held at the Sydney Cenotaph in 1927, which was also the first year that all states recognised a public holiday on the day. Initially dawn services were only attended by veterans who followed the ritual of 'standing to' before two minutes of silence was observed, broken by the sound of a lone piper playing the 'Last Post'. Later in the day, there were marches in all the major cities and many smaller towns for families and other well wishers.
Today it is a day when Australians reflect on the many different meanings of war. Gatherings are held at war memorials across the country.

http://australia.gov.au/about-australia ... /anzac-day
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At the going down of the sun...

I crouched in a shallow trench on that hell of exposed beaches... steeply rising foothills bare of cover... a landscape pockmarked with war’s inevitable litter... piles of stores... equipment... ammunition... and the weird contortions of death sculptured in Australian flesh... I saw the going down of the sun on that first ANZAC Day... the chaotic maelstrom of Australia’s blooding.
I fought in the frozen mud of the Somme... in a blazing destroyer exploding on the North Sea... I fought on the perimeter at Tobruk... crashed in the flaming wreckage of a fighter in New Guinea... lived with the damned in the place cursed with the name Changi.
I was your mate... the kid across the street... the med. student at graduation... the mechanic in the corner garage... the baker who brought you bread... the gardener who cut your lawn... the clerk who sent your phone bill.
I was an Army private... a Naval commander... an Air Force bombardier. no man knows me... no name marks my tomb, for I am every Australian serviceman... I am the Unknown Soldier.
I died for a cause I held just in the service of my land... that you and yours may say in freedom... I am proud to be an Australian.

This 60 cm x 90 cm framed message, a poignant tribute to the Australian serviceman, hangs in the offices of the Queensland State Headquarters of the RSL.
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The Ode

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

The Ode comes from For the Fallen, a poem by the English poet and writer Laurence Binyon and was published in London in The Winnowing Fan: Poems of the Great War in 1914. This verse, which became the Ode for the Returned and Services League, has been used in association with commemoration services in Australia since 1921.

http://www.anzacday.org.au/education/tf ... words.html

[loCAtek]

[The Hen]

It's 4:20am, 25 April 2011.

The Hatch and I are just leaving for the Dawn Service at the Australian War Memorial.

Lest We Forget.

[Gob]

An estimated crowd of 28,000 gathered at the Australian War Memorial this morning to remember the sacrifices of ordinary people in war.


Addressing the service, RAAF chaplain Wing Commander Mark Willis said Anzac Day was a way to pay tribute to those who disregarded their own safety to fight for freedom for others.


"It goes without saying that war is not a nice thing, even victory is hollow," he said.


The Anzac Day celebrations were not about glorifying war, he said, but about remembering those who served and those who continue to serve.


“Our two latest VC recipients have both echoed the sentiment of the first World War digger who said: `it's a dirty job, some mug has to do it so let's get into it and clear out as soon as we can.”


ACT RSL president John King also addressed the crowd, praising the courage of fallen soldiers and urging Australians to “dedicate ourselves to the service of the ideals for which they died”.


NSW Governor Marie Bashir led the dignitaries, as both Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Governor-General Quentin Bryce attended services overseas. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott also attended the Canberra ceremony


http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/lo ... 43270.aspx

[alice]

I said this somewhere else, but I've lost track where ... I always feel quite emotional about this day, but this year even more so. In 29 'sleeps' my son will be starting his Army life. Because of that this year feels somewhat more personal for me. It just really brings it home more, and all the poems and stories etc are hitting me harder than ever. And I don't mean my comment to sound in any way disrespectful to the veterans, for whom it is, of course, already much more significantly personal.

[loCAtek]

No worries Alice, your son is a very honorable boy; and you're an above and beyond mum.