Anzac Day
On every 25th of April, New Zealand and Australia stop to pay their respects to the Eleven and a half thousand New Zealand and Australian ANZAC's that died during the attempts to capture the Gallipoli peninsula in 1915. Over the years this memorial has come to encompass veterans from both First and Second World Wars, and later veterans from Korea, and Vietnam.
I believe the best thing that came out of the fatally flawed Gallipoli campaign, can be readily seen at every remembrance since. People from all walks of life and cultures gather together to give thanks for the freedoms we so often take for granted. For many of us, who have never known war first hand, it is a solemn reminder of what we owe to those who have come before us, and the legacy we must strive to leave for those yet to come.
This day, is swiftly and silently becoming our New Zealand Day.
"They shall not grow 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 evening
we will remember them."
Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the evening
we will remember them."
2 comments:
I don't normally do serious... but I agree with you on this one. There aren't too many of those old diggers left now so it's up to us to educate our children about the mistakes made in the past otherwise they're doomed to repeat them. I'll be keeping the ANZAC tradition alive with my girls. I'm thinking about getting a flag pole [seriously]. What do you think?
The flagpole is a stellar idea. We NZ'ers are passionate about our country - but sometimes we're a little reluctant to show it.
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