ID :
57455
Sat, 04/25/2009 - 17:23
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/57455
The shortlink copeid
Aussies keep the faith on Anzac Day
A navy chaplain called it "a sacred moment" - dawn on April 25, when a nation
remembers the 1.8 million Australians who have gone off to war and the 102,000 who
never came back.
On the 94th such sacred moment, Australians showed that as the ranks of veterans
dwindles, so the numbers of those honouring them swells.
In cities and towns around Australia, at Gallipoli and on the western front, in NZ,
PNG, Britain and the US, tens of thousands were urged to keep faith with the Anzac
spirit.
As Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull attended
services in Canberra and Darwin respectively, Governor-General Quentin Bryce said
the Anzac spirit helped Australians to show resilience in natural disasters as well
as wars.
Ms Bryce said the nation was able to test its courage during drought, flood and
bushfires.
She told a service at the Australian War Memorial that courage was evident "in our
willingness to persevere through misfortune and adversity, to remain hopeful in the
dry gullies, in our capacity to reach out when floodwaters rise and bushfires
ravage".
At Gallipoli, where the Anzac legend was born on April 25, 1915, Foreign Minister
Stephen Smith said Anzac Day was not only a time to remember lives lost in war but
national traits of fairness, humour and mateship.
"Short moments on the beach, and long months in the trenches, in conditions of the
greatest adversity have taken on profound significance over time," he said.
"They now say something about our spirit as a nation.
"The great Australian notion of a fair go, of looking out for one's mates, of a
sense of humour in adversity, and the sure and certain knowledge that however bad
circumstances might be, there was always someone else worse off who needs a helping
hand."
In Australia, the Anzac spirit was invoked to describe recent efforts by Australian
naval personnel to save drowning asylum seekers off the nation's northwest coast.
Retired Lieutenant Colonel Bill Denny told a service in Adelaide their courage and
compassion showed "their true altruism and character, the putting of others before
self, no matter the risk".
Four-year-old Melbourne boy Jake Bull, wearing his great-grandfather's medals and a
digger's cap to his first dawn service, approached a veteran in a wheelchair and
exclaimed: "Thank you for saving our world."
The beaming digger replied: "Son, you have made my day."
In Perth, 13th Brigade commander, Brigadier Steve Cain, paid tribute to the wives
and mothers of veterans, whose hearts were "full of dread from the moment you said
you were joining up".
"She smiles and says he'll be only doing what must be done, but her heart is
hurting," he said.
"This is the other side of sacrifice."
In Sydney, World War II veteran Neville McCowen, 91, from Tamworth, said a German
and an Italian friend were hosting him over the Anzac Day weekend.
"Both their fathers fought against us in Libya. They're lovely people," he said.
In Brisbane, where New Zealanders were leading the march for the first time, Kiwi
Vietnam veteran Bruce Weir, 64, who now lives on the Gold Coast, said: "It's nice to
recognise that Kiwis fought alongside the Aussies.
"It's so important to remember the mates I've lost in the war."
Treasurer Wayne Swan told a commemoration at the Washington National Cathedral that
young Australians were currently fighting alongside Americans in Afghanistan,
principally to fight terrorism.
"But they are also there because a fundamental part of their make-up says they must
go," he said.
In Papua New Guinea, Geelong man Ray Peters, 72, finally saw where his father went
missing near Rabaul in WWII.
"I was five and a half when Dad was killed," Mr Peters said.
"I still remember him in full uniform, our last farewell through a cyclone fence."
In Wellington, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said the original Anzacs could
not have foreseen how their actions would become embedded in the national
consciousness.
"Perhaps it was because it was at Gallipoli that we encountered the very worst that
war could throw at us," he said, "because we got through with honour and our
humanity intact."
remembers the 1.8 million Australians who have gone off to war and the 102,000 who
never came back.
On the 94th such sacred moment, Australians showed that as the ranks of veterans
dwindles, so the numbers of those honouring them swells.
In cities and towns around Australia, at Gallipoli and on the western front, in NZ,
PNG, Britain and the US, tens of thousands were urged to keep faith with the Anzac
spirit.
As Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull attended
services in Canberra and Darwin respectively, Governor-General Quentin Bryce said
the Anzac spirit helped Australians to show resilience in natural disasters as well
as wars.
Ms Bryce said the nation was able to test its courage during drought, flood and
bushfires.
She told a service at the Australian War Memorial that courage was evident "in our
willingness to persevere through misfortune and adversity, to remain hopeful in the
dry gullies, in our capacity to reach out when floodwaters rise and bushfires
ravage".
At Gallipoli, where the Anzac legend was born on April 25, 1915, Foreign Minister
Stephen Smith said Anzac Day was not only a time to remember lives lost in war but
national traits of fairness, humour and mateship.
"Short moments on the beach, and long months in the trenches, in conditions of the
greatest adversity have taken on profound significance over time," he said.
"They now say something about our spirit as a nation.
"The great Australian notion of a fair go, of looking out for one's mates, of a
sense of humour in adversity, and the sure and certain knowledge that however bad
circumstances might be, there was always someone else worse off who needs a helping
hand."
In Australia, the Anzac spirit was invoked to describe recent efforts by Australian
naval personnel to save drowning asylum seekers off the nation's northwest coast.
Retired Lieutenant Colonel Bill Denny told a service in Adelaide their courage and
compassion showed "their true altruism and character, the putting of others before
self, no matter the risk".
Four-year-old Melbourne boy Jake Bull, wearing his great-grandfather's medals and a
digger's cap to his first dawn service, approached a veteran in a wheelchair and
exclaimed: "Thank you for saving our world."
The beaming digger replied: "Son, you have made my day."
In Perth, 13th Brigade commander, Brigadier Steve Cain, paid tribute to the wives
and mothers of veterans, whose hearts were "full of dread from the moment you said
you were joining up".
"She smiles and says he'll be only doing what must be done, but her heart is
hurting," he said.
"This is the other side of sacrifice."
In Sydney, World War II veteran Neville McCowen, 91, from Tamworth, said a German
and an Italian friend were hosting him over the Anzac Day weekend.
"Both their fathers fought against us in Libya. They're lovely people," he said.
In Brisbane, where New Zealanders were leading the march for the first time, Kiwi
Vietnam veteran Bruce Weir, 64, who now lives on the Gold Coast, said: "It's nice to
recognise that Kiwis fought alongside the Aussies.
"It's so important to remember the mates I've lost in the war."
Treasurer Wayne Swan told a commemoration at the Washington National Cathedral that
young Australians were currently fighting alongside Americans in Afghanistan,
principally to fight terrorism.
"But they are also there because a fundamental part of their make-up says they must
go," he said.
In Papua New Guinea, Geelong man Ray Peters, 72, finally saw where his father went
missing near Rabaul in WWII.
"I was five and a half when Dad was killed," Mr Peters said.
"I still remember him in full uniform, our last farewell through a cyclone fence."
In Wellington, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said the original Anzacs could
not have foreseen how their actions would become embedded in the national
consciousness.
"Perhaps it was because it was at Gallipoli that we encountered the very worst that
war could throw at us," he said, "because we got through with honour and our
humanity intact."
