Lest We Forget - Page 2

kustard (Simon) · #21 11-11-2009, 02:56 PM

I remember at school having the minute silence. My step dad was in PNG as well but he never told us stories until he had a stroke and only then did he tell us some of the horrific things that he endured. He died shortly after.

Lest We Forget...

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #22 11-11-2009, 03:32 PM

I have been told some very sobering/shocking experiences from the Vietnam war and from PNG ww2. Stories that had never been told to wives and family because of the shame and extreme sadness involved.
Lest we forget and glorify war.

And though I hate the very idea of war, I am no pacifist, I would stand up and fight for the freedom of my children and country.
Lest I forget the sacrifices that others have made for me.

Octane (Humayun) · #23 11-11-2009, 03:53 PM

One of the general managers of one of our departments is an ex-army general.

On today's date, each year, at 10:57 AM, he takes command of the all-encompassing corporate PA system and delivers a speech, so that each and every one of us hears what he has to say.

He doesn't even have to say anything after his speech; at 11 AM, all the typing and clicking stops and everyone pays their respects in complete silence. It is a sombre and humbling reminder of the sacrifices that great men and women have made in the past so that we have what we have today.

Lest we forget.

Regards,
Humayun

xstream (John) · #24 11-11-2009, 03:58 PM

We will remember them..

Lest We Forget.

Ric · #25 11-11-2009, 04:30 PM

Lest we forget.

My wish is that we learn from these terrible times for a peaceful future.

RB (Andrew) · #26 11-11-2009, 05:55 PM

Lest We Forget.

.

leon · #27 11-11-2009, 06:02 PM

I'm with you Ric, War and the end result has no winners other than a lot of good people dead.

I do as you guys do remember, but what a cost, wouldn't it be nice if everyone lived and loved in PEACE.

Leon

BerrieK · #28 11-11-2009, 07:21 PM

Lest we forget.

Let's also think of Aussies currently deployed, thank them, and hope (and pray) they come home safe in body and in mind.

Kerrie

taminga16 (Greg) · #29 11-11-2009, 07:49 PM

I spent the last year of my Secondary schooling year expressing my opposition to Australia's involvement in the war in Vietnam (All Draft, No Vote), "wagged" school (first time) to attend the Melbourne Moratorium march, arrested at 17 for supporting Paul Fox, ride motorcycles with three "Vets", (whom I love dearly) that still require a daily hug, watch them try to deal the mess in Vietnam that they consider theirs, still struggle with being here and alone, and we sit at home and wait for the next generation of Vets to come home.

We really have a long way to go.

Greg.

Jen · #30 11-11-2009, 08:10 PM

We will remember them

Satchmo · #31 11-11-2009, 08:54 PM

Remembrance day means different things to different people.

I also think of the young people who slept for days at a time on my bedroom floor when I was a kid, who had the strength of character and moral conviction to become literally fugitives from the law at a young age, in the rejection of their 'duty'.

Each to their own.

renormalised (Carl) · #32 11-11-2009, 09:31 PM

Been listening to Redgum..."I was only 19" and 'Running with the Hurricane"...great songs. Good themes for today...futility of war and the stupidity of politicians who always seem to start them.

FredSnerd (Claude) · #33 11-11-2009, 09:39 PM

Sorry Carl, Redgum, one of my pet hates of all time. Awful lyrics. Much preferred Eric Bogle (Band played waltzing Matilda).

AstralTraveller (David) · #34 11-11-2009, 09:43 PM

I also think of the civilians caught up in war. My partner is from Germany and both of her parents had very hard times. His family fled on foot from what is now Poland to west Germany digging over old potato farms hoping to find some that everyone else had missed. He ate naught but snow for 8 days. She was in the Ruhr Valley (Diesburg I think) and was bombed by the yanks by day and and the poms by night. Days at a time in air raid shelters with the earth shaking. Neither of them were 10 when the war ended. Then they were in a shattered country. What did they do to deserve that?

PS Reading this again I realized that it might seem that I was being partisan about the rights and wrongs of that war. I wasn't. That is just the example that I know.

renormalised (Carl) · #35 11-11-2009, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FredSnerd

Sorry Carl, Redgum, one of my pet hates of all time. Awful lyrics. Much preferred Eric Bogle (Band played waltzing Matilda).

I like him too

Buck · #36 11-11-2009, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by renormalised

Dad was up in PNG...he was a reconnaissance scout. Before that, he was in the Middle East...fought at Tobruk and such.

He used to tell us all stories about what went on...unfortunately, he passed away 7 years ago, now, and it never occurred to me to write them down. I can still remember most of what he said, so I might just do that anyway. Before I end up forgetting!!!.

Similar story here Carl. Dad also was in the Middle East and then PNG. He didn't talk much about the war, but he had kept a daily diary and was also a photographer (processed his own work). After he died in 1998 I reproduced his diary to cd complete with his photographs of the Middle East and PNG campaigns. He didn't like anyone to see the diary while he was alive, but at least we have his personal record of 6 years in active service in WW2. Interestingly there are 2 pages deliberately torn out of his diary. He was only "courting" my mum at that time, so maybe something happened that he recorded, but later regretted. We'll never know now!

The Australian War Museum have shown an interest in his diary and the photos - active servicemen were not supposed to keep records, let alone photos, even though they were more a reflection of daily life in the AIF - but now they are a rare historical record that helps keep the history of Australians at war real and accurate.

Paul

marki · #37 11-11-2009, 11:10 PM

We had a small service at school today. The kids were magic and deeply moved by it all. At 11 oclock a student played the last post and you could have heard a pin drop. The young have not forgotten but I trully hope it is something they will never experience.

Lest we forget.

scopemankit (Chris) · #38 11-11-2009, 11:14 PM

Remember those from all sides of all wars.

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #39 11-11-2009, 11:19 PM

That's right Chris.
Each side believes they are fighting the righteous cause.
They have families and loved ones that they've left behind.

renormalised (Carl) · #40 11-11-2009, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AstralTraveller

I also think of the civilians caught up in war. My partner is from Germany and both of her parents had very hard times. His family fled on foot from what is now Poland to west Germany digging over old potato farms hoping to find some that everyone else had missed. He ate naught but snow for 8 days. She was in the Ruhr Valley (Diesburg I think) and was bombed by the yanks by day and and the poms by night. Days at a time in air raid shelters with the earth shaking. Neither of them were 10 when the war ended. Then they were in a shattered country. What did they do to deserve that?

PS Reading this again I realized that it might seem that I was being partisan about the rights and wrongs of that war. I wasn't. That is just the example that I know.

I can relate to that...my family had combatants on both sides, in both wars. Pop actually went AWOL about 3 weeks after the war ended to visit the rellies to see if they made it through OK. Visited rellies both in the UK and Germany. Crazy thing was if they'd have known that family was on the field whilst they were fighting, they'd have probably all gone AWOL

Ended up somewhere neutral like Switzerland, in a tavern drinking beer and schnapps