April 25 2017

ANZAC Day is one of perhaps two of the saddest days of each and every year, the other day that is considered saddest is Remembrance Day.

On those days we look at the long list of the dead and the long lists of those who came back from all the wars that Australia has been part of and we think about how terrible things were for the living and the dead in those conflicts around the world.

We think  about the horrors of trench warfare as thousands dutifully left their trenches to face machine gun and rifle fire with little chance of them returning back to their lines.

We think about the use of chemical weapons that killed many so quickly and physically tortured so many more for years or decades into the future.

We think about jungle warfare and how sides fought with ferocity and desperation to hold on to every inch of land.

We think about the many sea battles that have taken place and what people had to do to survive ship fires or being adrift at sea after their ship or submarine was sunk.

We think about the families of those who went to war as for every person who comes back there is somebody who does not and their death is felt by dozens with devastating impact for the rest of their lives and those who do return are affected as well and it goes down the line of family and friends.

We also think about the psychological battles those who fought in war had to fight inside and outside of war, the moral dilmilma of thoughts and feelings about defense of country, personal morality and religious beliefs (Thou shall not kill) and also the sight of people dying from those who are combatants to civilians must weigh heavily on their minds and we must always hope that all those who come back from combat or general service get the best level of care through those dark times.

Today we live in a world that is seemingly getting very itchy trigger fingers, we have religious believers thinking they’ve been told that their religion should be number one through the use of violence and there is no sharing the world with differing beliefs, we have world leaders who are posturing and acting tough and are willing to put peoples lives on the line to cement their way of thinking and there are those who seek to overthrow a government believing they are the right choice to lead their nation and plunge their country into Civil War.

We think of all the above and feel sadness that so many have died, been injured or affected in the fight to uphold our democratic beliefs through the many conflicts Australia has been part of and we are grateful that they made the choice to be the defenders of our nation despite all the above mentioned horrors and risks.

We wish there was a better way for our democracy to be upheld without the use of violence when some nation or ideology threatens our way of life but as virtually said above there is someone, somewhere that believes the exact opposite and wishes to bring our way of life down with violence and their aggression must be checked with violence.

Our message for this ANZAC Day is to remember the dead, remember those who were injured, remember those who went to fight, remember the families and friends of the living and the dead, remember the psychological strain that warfare brings to those in war and always hope that those who leave our shores in service to the nation come back to our shores alive, healthy and are not mentally scared by what they seen and what they had to do.