WYSIWYG

What You See Is What You Get. This is a journal blog, an explore-blog, a bit of this and that blog. Sharing where the mood takes me. Perhaps it will take you too.

Menory - lest we forget

Okay, so I am in Scotland now.  This does not mean that I have stopped being my Australian self. Although born here, I made conscious decisions around moving down under and taking allegiance to the country which adopted me, gave me a wonderful life whilst there and permitted my destiny to unfold the way it has.

It is often touted that we have the freedoms we do in current life due to wars fought. Generally I am anti-war.  I am not so idealistic though to believe that mankind can negotiate through every difficulty by diplomacy.  There are going to be times where actions alone can make the difference. Horrible but true. There are very few times I feel there were wars that were inevitable and 'justified'.  The great World Wars 1 and 2 are perhaps in that bracket.  Whether or not I like that they happened is irrelevant.  They did. Therefore we must never forget the cost of them and especially to the soldiers who fought the battles.  The men on the ground.

Today is ANZAC day in Australia.  


I always appreciated Remembrance Day here in UK, but there has been something special to me about ANZAC day.  It is perhaps because of the Returned Servicemans' League which is so very visible and active... but really I don't know why.  There is nothing so haunting, moving yet strangely enheartening as the dawn service.

The damage of war upon the psyche of the soldiers took a long time to recognise.  Now we have an established condition.  Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

But no words can convey, I am sure, the full horror or the legacy war leaves.  

Yes.  Sometimes, just sometimes, war is inevitable.  We must never be complacent about the relative peace the vast majority of us enjoy.  We must never cease from seeking alternatives to war.

WE MUST NEVER FORGET.

3 comments:

  1. This post really resonated with me, Yam. I find it so moving to think how many Australian and NZ troops, as well as those from other parts of the Empire, as it then was, came halfway round the world to fight in Europe's war in 1914-18. World War 2 came much closer to home for those countries, of course, but their willingness to fight and die when the need arose must never be forgotten.

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  2. It's a cold and rainy day in Sydney, this day is always sad, my dad was in the war in the Middle east and Borneo, he would watch the march on tele but never go, He was very young in the war and would never talk about it but liked to see his mates walk past.
    I remember he was in the ninth division, 22 machine gunners.
    Merle......

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  3. I laud those who are world travellers!

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