ANZAC Day

[KiltedKnight]

Today is ANZAC day in Australia and New Zealand. It's a memorial of the fallen in the first world war of both countries.
I think my feelings for this are best summed up by the words of Buffy Saint-Marie:

"He's five foot-two, and he's six feet-four,
He fights with missiles and with spears.
He's all of thirty-one, and he's only seventeen,
Been a soldier for a thousand years...."

"Lest we forget"
Erin.

I'm not sure where it is that you stand with this but I had to tell you that this was a protest song by Saint-Marie and it was an attempt to put the causes of war squarely on the shoulders of the soldiers themselves and was the reason that so many who returned from Viet Nam were spat upon by low-lifes that didn't have the nerve to serve. Although I do agree it was a great song, I don't agree with the lyrics. Instead, I offer you an excerpt from General Douglas McAurthur's Thayer Award speech of 1962.

DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY;

(excerpt)

Prays for Peace

This does not mean that you are warmongers. On the contrary, the soldier above all other people prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. But always in our ears ring the ominous words of Plato, that wisest of all philosophers: "Only the dead have seen the end of war."
The shadows are lengthening for me. The twilight is here. My days of old have vanished--tone and tint. They have gone glimmering through the dreams of things that were. Their memory is one of wondrous beauty, watered by tears and coaxed and caressed by the smiles of yesterday. I listen vainly, but with thirsty ear, for the witching melody of faint bugles blowing reveille, of far drums beating the long roll.
In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield. But in the evening of my memory always I come back to West Point. Always there echoes and re-echoes: Duty, honor, country.
Today marks my final roll call with you. But I want you to know that when I cross the river, my last conscious thoughts will be of the corps, and the corps, and the corps.

I bid you farewell.

(End excerpt)

I am now past 50 years old and not the young, strong soldier that I was and I understand these words better than at anytime in my life. They say a lot more than any ten of the protest songs of those like Saint-Marie.
This post was not meant to be confrontational.

Chris.

[RoderickOfClanMadHaggis]

thanks everyone...shoulda done an intro post first but oh well.

Rod

[macwilkin]

In the spirit of compromise, I'll post the lyrics to John Williamson's "Diggers of the ANZAC":

Things'll never be the same in Port Lincoln
Since they rolled the cameras there
Roll up and be a movie extra
Take it lightly if you dare

Give the man a uniform
Give the man a gun
He's your younger brother
He's your only son

This is Gallipoli
They coulda been ya mates
They coulda been me

Ya can't blame a bloke who likes adventure
He saw the posters on the wall
See the world through the sights of a rifle
Grab ya mates and go to war

And give the man a bayonet
Give the man a hat
Land him on the beaches
Eight thousand never came back
A rat-a-tat-tat

This is Gallipoli
And don't you forget
You are the Diggers of the ANZAC

Slap bang in the middle of an ambush
The johnny turk was all around
Sitting ducks fled like nine-pins
But the Diggers held their ground

And men like Simpson upheld the spirit
Of the Digger who gives a mate a hand
And in the end they showed the world
The spirit of Australia

So things'll never be the same in Port Lincoln
Since they made a movie there
Knock off the shearing
And knock off the fishing
Bring up the clippers and knock off the hair

Give the man a uniform
Give the man a gun
He's your younger brother
He's your only son

This is Gallipoli
And don't you forget
You are the Diggers of the ANZAC

This is Gallipoli
And don't you forget
You are the Diggers of the ANZAC

The movie in question was "Gallipoli", and if I remember correctly what my friend in Queensland told me, it was written specifically to remind the extras in the movie what the story was about.

Of course, the song of the Diggers will always be "Waltzing Matilda".

Cheers,

Todd

[bubba]

A lady I chat with on IRC mentioned that a 62 year old veteran collapsed and died while Last Post was being played. Kinda sad ending for ANZAC Day.

[Riverkilt]

Salute to the Diggers.

Sadly, war remains a painful chore of humanity. In my little town of 6,000 we've combat deaths and a suicide a week after returning home. The later is so needless, yet so common.

Ron

[bangkok kilt]

Living in Turkey makes ANZAC an event to be reconned with. The turnout is amazing, and the actual services are supposed to phenomenol. I've been to Gallipoli and area and it is an imposing area on it's own. Being a US citizen I never really knew about the memorial, but now that I've had close second hand experience I will always enjoy remembering it.

If you ever get a chance to visit Turkey, do it! Skip Greece and come to the Turkish Agean and Med, the history will blow your mind.

[ozmeath]

Todd I don't mind you joining the two posts, well done.
Chris, it's a hard subject at the best and there's at least three sides to any war.
Bubba, man that's some sad news there.I just wonder what they were thinking at the time. I hope it was peaceful.
Rod a very warm welcome to you! We're practically neighbors. Good to have another SE Qld'er.
Erin