Greetings all,
It's fantastic to see crowds at marches & blog posts celebrating ANZAC Day. I grew up in a military family, including iconic Light Horsemen at Gallipoli, yet they never marched or made a big deal about ANZAC Day. My father is a very open, warm & friendly gentleman, yet has never spoken about the Korean or Vietnam Wars. In turn, we children have unspokenly respected it & only asked about all the other adventures of his 32 year career in the Navy.
It's fantastic to see crowds at marches & blog posts celebrating ANZAC Day. I grew up in a military family, including iconic Light Horsemen at Gallipoli, yet they never marched or made a big deal about ANZAC Day. My father is a very open, warm & friendly gentleman, yet has never spoken about the Korean or Vietnam Wars. In turn, we children have unspokenly respected it & only asked about all the other adventures of his 32 year career in the Navy.
My children have questioned Grandad if he was a pirate sailing the high seas & admire his medals & memorabilia, including photos with Queen Elizabeth & launching new ships into the fleet. By coincidence or just a matter of the WW2 generation, my brothers' wives & sister's husband are all children of servicemen too - Greek/ Australian; Austrian & French. We have a family story of when my eldest nephew was in Kindergarten & took his 'other' Grandfather's medals to school for ANZAC Day, only to be told "that Grandfather was on the wrong team". I guess the Iron Cross stood out against the Pacific Stars which his class mates brought in.
You'll find most people remembering/ discussing/ celebrating on this day - the humour, the mateship & the courage they sought to get through war . . . dealing with the horror, the waste & the pain of their experience in a personal private way. ANZAC Day is a good prompt to show them we appreciate their sacrifices & we're proud.
The ANZAC Day commentators say "remember there are still current service men & women deployed to war zones right now" as they talk about all the history of each unit marching. Why yes, i don't need a reminder thank you. This is how my husband spent last ANZAC Day, a simple but extremely meaningful ceremony in Afghanistan.
This ANZAC Day handsome soldier is with us, snuggled up on the lounge, belly filled with Easter eggs & watching family movies, then an afternoon swim with Army friends. Last year he was in a gun pit overlooking the Chora Valley.
I was uncertain about putting this last image in - as a housewife, mother, lover of all things homemade, crafty, pretty, girlie & nice (read: opposite to battle, guns & war) - this is not how i think of my loving husband & father of our 4 kind hearted children, who plaits hair, plays games, bakes cheesecakes & sneezes around flowers. Your husbands might be interested - i know my brothers find his line of work & equipment fascinating. Alas this is what he looks like, a pistol where his wallet should be, a beard (icky), in the desert for 8 month tours. Today, soldiers have amazing equipment, body armour, resources, technology, support, therapy, education, medical treatment & training . . . war is still war . . . there are decisions, ethics, relationships & cultural factors i could never imagine & we still need a Defence Force. Love Posie
