The Australian War Memorial is running a project "Places of Pride" looking pictures and information on all the War Memorials in Australia. Details can be found at https://placesofpride.awm.gov.au/
With this and Remembrance Day I was inspired to visit a number of local memorials. Five of the six memorials I visited today, I drive pass on a regular basis but had never before stopped at them and took the time to reflect on what they represent.
I think it’s something we should all do from time to time. It’s all too easy to take for granted. Something about seeing names etched in stone, it really brings it home the sacrifices that have been made for us.
"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them."
Thank you to all the Service men & women, past and present, whose service amidst the horrors of war and armed conflict have given me the freedom I enjoy today.
I am forever in your debt and honour your sacrifice and courage.
Many of us who are old enough may have had relatives who
fought in that war and many of us got to talk to veterans.
As a young boy in the mid 1960's, I remember on one occasion
standing next to my mother on the railway platform at Parramatta
and a WW1 veteran with a walking stick came over to address me.
He asked me how old I was and he passed on this advice. He said,
"If anyone ever asks you what the First World War was like, tell them
it was terrible and pointless, and if anyone ever asks you to go to
the same sort of war, just don't".
I remember veterans visiting the school would pass on a similar message,
essentially that World War I was terrible but served no point and we
should not ever make the same mistake.
What is sad is that we would hope that these people gave up their lives
and made great sacrifices for a purpose. But the tragedy of the First World
War is that it had no meaningful purpose.
So I feel compelled to pass on the message that was passed onto me
at a time when less than 50 years had passed since the end of World War I.
The Australian War Memorial is running a project "Places of Pride" looking pictures and information on all the War Memorials in Australia. Details can be found at https://placesofpride.awm.gov.au/
With this and Remembrance Day I was inspired to visit a number of local memorials. Five of the six memorials I visited today, I drive pass on a regular basis but had never before stopped at them and took the time to reflect on what they represent.
Lest we forget.
Thanks for posting this.
All the boats on Milford Sound NZ stopped at 1100hrs today, sounded their horns and then observed a minute of silence.
Lest we forget.....
...it seems we had similar thoughts. I visited the war memorial at Snake Valley on my way home the Astro Camp this afternoon and contemplated over the names of those who made the ultimate sacrifice and that they wouldn't be forgotten.
"If anyone ever asks you what the First World War was like, tell them
it was terrible and pointless, and if anyone ever asks you to go to
the same sort of war, just don't".
I remember veterans visiting the school would pass on a similar message,
essentially that World War I was terrible but served no point and we
should not ever make the same mistake.
Lest We Forget
We remember what happened but we forget the more important part of the picture, we don't put the lesson into practice as the fallen would have wanted. This makes remembrance day depressingly shallow for me.
Still, I thank the poor buggers who were conned into giving their lives for their sacrifice.
What does it feel like when you guys say "places of pride" to soldiers' memorials?
Pride is such an ambiguous emotion, depending on cultural agreement of which values and situations are deemed worthy of inducing the emotion, isn't it?
When I read the thread title just now I immediately hoped for a time when it became cultural agreement that "places of pride" are places where wars were prevented.
The German and Austrian soldiers who paraded in the streets in 1914 with flowers on their bayonets felt pride as well. They were also told and believed it that going to war was the right, and brave, and proud thing to do. Murdering other men with their bayonets. Flowers and all.
I'm German, born in the 60s, and lived in NZ for a while. Long enough to come across Poppy day a few times. It made me feel sooo sad. Because what I perceived was hero worship for the dead soldiers. And that worship is what keeps people going to wars over and over again.
I'm glad to read Gary's memory of that old veteran and some of you agreeing with that story.
So I think it's possible that I'm wrong with my NZ perception. Poppy day isn't about pride and worship, at all? Is it about remembering how important it is to keep and work for peace?
Your last sentence sums it up pretty well - it's about remembering how important it is to keep and work for peace so that hopefully we never have to build any more memorials to the youth of a generation for sacrificing their lives to protect our freedoms.
Lest we forget.
Remembering my great uncle, Alan Johnston Campbell KCMG, who served at Gallipoli in the light horse, lost an eye in a bomb blast - and went on to become a successful grazier, African safari junkie (7 trips!) and later founder of the Country Party. They don’t make many like that anymore
Me and my mate who is ex Navy, have coffee together at our local café pretty well every day. Well today, I mentioned to the owner about the significance of today and he was great about it, at 11am he put on the radio and the announcer said that it was 11 am and a minutes silence was happening, my mate and I stood up and did our respectful thing and the effing clowns in the café looked at us as though we were lunatics. Seriously pissed off with their attitudes.
Hi Annette
Your last sentence sums it up pretty well
Paul
+1
Quote:
Originally Posted by Exfso
Me and my mate who is ex Navy...clowns in the café looked at us as though we were lunatics. Seriously pissed off with their attitudes.
Sorry to hear this Peter. I wonder how many of these comfortable souls would serve in the event of a (genuinely necessary) conflict under our flag? How many of them would tolerate working a designated job under a total war economy? How many could handle rationing, or the like? How many would simply jump ship, or hide under the bed?
Don't let yourself get too wound up. It's evident they're in need of a long sit down with a few good books...
Sorry to hear this Peter. I wonder how many of these comfortable souls would serve in the event of a (genuinely necessary) conflict under our flag? ...
Whether or not to serve is a very complex question. On one hand I might fight to protect our country against an invading Asian aggressor.
On the other hand, should I sacrifice my son to the next world war which corporations have been setting us up for over the last few decades?
Whether or not to serve is a very complex question. ...
We shouldn't be too quick to judge.
You're right Tony. My whole statement hinges on the term "genuinely necessary". I'll be the first to point out that this is an entirely different subject, best left outside of an important, more solemn discussion that is this thread
Yesterday would have been my late mother's 100th birthday, she was born at 11.00am on the 11th of Nov., 1918 and was subsequently named Joy Lorraine, the of significance "Joy" should need no explanation.
Every 11/11, I experience a great degree of sadness and respect for those who have served, regardless of how or where........during the National Service draft for Vietnam my birthday was not drawn, the days either side were, something for which in hindsight, I am now appreciative.
