Today is ANZAC Day, a day when a bunch of Australian and New Zealanders stormed the shores in Gallipoli.
The day has become a remembrance day for all those who have died in wars. There’s a lot of them.
The television news tonight was full of stories from the various Dawn Services around the world. It was all very touching, provided you can put up with the crappy flowery language of the reporters. Australians in their thousands descended on places in Turkey and France to remember. Locally, grand children and great grand children of 1st Word War veterans marched with veterans from the 2nd World War and other wars. Again, all very touching.
I am grateful for old timers efforts in the wars. I’m not sure that any of it was directly responsible for my freedom. Dying on the shores of Gallipoli or the Western Front probably did little to protect us back here in Australia. I’m aware that Darwin and some other areas in the top end came under direct attack. While nasty, not really sure how that would have affected the rest of the country, it was the 40’s after all and the only way to get to Darwin was by camel.
War is horrible. Those who fight and die in war need to be remembered. We need to show our gratitude toward them. The face of the world would surely be different if Germany or Japan had won.
I’ve long thought that we should fight those battles only that help to protect our citizens. Again and again our citizens are sent far away to die for someone elses cause.
We must not forget those that die. We must not forget the pain of war. Likewise, we must not glorify it. There is nothing glorious about killing others, no matter who they are or where they come from.
Lest we forget.