Tomorrow is a special day, a day of rememberance, of thanksgiving, and a time of deep reflection, when Australia honours those who ensured our nation remains mindful that the values it holds dear have been fought for, and paid for, in the currency of war upon the alter of sacrifice.
As the nights vigils begin in preparation for the dawn services and the day's march, when the names of those who died on foreign shores are spoken again in the present tense, becasue they are not truly gone, and are never to be forgotten.... the mettle of the day is that the descendents of Turkish veterens march side by side with the descendents of their foe, because the fight at Gallipoli was bloody and horrible, but it was honorable, and a part of Turkey is forever a part of Australia, because of the courage of a group of young men (so young) so far from home..
The following is an exceprt from a website, one of many, that seeks to convey the deeper meanings of ANZAC day
http://www.stumacsu.com/anzac/anzactrib.html
"Anzac stood and still stands for reckless valour in a good cause, for enterprise, resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship and endurance that will never own defeat. It has become synonymous with the determination and spirit of our armed forces."
So every year on April 25, we have a day of remembrance where we can express our gratitude to all those men and women then and since, who helped keep our country free from invasion; to acknowledge our debt to these men and women, their wives and husbands, mothers and children and our obligation to those who gave their lives to protect our way of life.
We must look to values of Anzacs
When Francis Walter Isaacs died at the age of 102 this month, Western Australia lost its last Gallipoli veteran. But the legend that he and his fellow Anzacs forged on that distant shore long ago lives on in the hearts and minds of Australians as the embodiment of the values to which we should aspire. In life the Gallipoli veterans have been venerated as national treasures. In death they are honoured as the men who helped to give a young nation its unique identity. Time has failed to diminish the legend. Indeed, Anzac Day has continued to grow in significance as an occasion when Australians publicly affirm their pride in the nationhood that the Anzacs helped to define. It and Australia Day are now the most important national days on the Australian calendar. Past criticism of Anzac Day that it somehow glorified war has faded. This is partly because it was wrongly based in the first place. But it is mainly because the spirit of what we celebrate and honour on Anzac Day has engaged the community with the message that it conveys about our values.. It is no longer a mainly military occasion and not only a time for families and comrades to remember those who have fallen in wars , although this is an important part of the ceremonies. Certainly Anzac Day commemorates those who died in wars and honours Australians who fought in them. Wars are brutal expressions of the dark side of humanity. But the Anzacs showed-and other Australians in other wars inherited their spirit- that men and women who find themselves in wars can reach a nobility through sacrifice. Their actions have forged for the Anzacs a tradition of honour, valour, mateship, sacrifice and duty above self that has been adopted as embodying the key values in the Australian national character.. And it is these values that we celebrate on Anzac Day. As we do so, we should reflect on the deeds of the Anzacs and those who followed in their tradition-on their refusal to accept defeat in the face adversity their commitment to their fellows and their spirit of self-sacrifice. It is a time to ask whether we-individually and as a nation-have honoured their contributions to the nation by respecting their values. They fought-and many died-for freedom, decency and a fair go. It is from them-as much as from anywhere else-that we draw an egalitarian ideal that is distinctly Australian. Would the men who gave their lives for these principles on the other side of the world feel let down by what Australia has become? Are we a nation of which they would be proud? Australia at the end of the century is a much different place from the one they knew. The growth of population and industry has been necessary for the nation to prosper-as has been the move to become and outward-looking country whose economy can compete in international marketplaces. Change of that type is inevitable but Anzac Day gives us an opportunity to question whether we have changed in other ways as our society has evolved over the century. And the most important question we can ask ourselves is whether we are true to the values by which the Anzacs lived and died-and which they bequeathed to us as a legacy of honour.
[From The West Australian Newspaper Perth Saturday April 24 1999]
Lest We Forget,
Lara
For ANZAC Day, April 25, 2006
