(An address to the ANZAC Parade in Charleville, QLD, 2005)
90 years
ago a group of Young NZ and Australian men faced a dawn that would change their
respective nations. In blood they gave birth to a tradition that has been at
the very heart of the psyches of the two nations ever since.
For a few
years in the 60s and 70s the power of the ANZAC tradition looked a little
shaky. Those of us who dwelt in the luxurious peace that our servicemen and
women had won for us – often at the cost of their lives, decided we hated war.
What we forgot was that those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, and those whose
lives were changed for ever, hated war as well. None but those who are insane
like war. By the sacrifice you service men and women made and continue to make
our lives were set free. By the standards of bravery you exemplified we were
enabled to be a generation that never had to serve. Slowly, as a product of the
peace won for us by those who have served, I learned how important this day and
the tradition it serves is for us, and for the generations that come after us. For
those of us who haven’t served, let us commit to tell our children of the
sacrifice that our men and women have made. Lest we forget, indeed.
The
tradition goes on. So too does the bravery and the payment of all degrees of
sacrifice. For those who have served in the New Zealand and Australian armed
services, for those whose lives have been changed for ever by the horror of
war, for those whose lives have been lost, not forgetting most recently those
who died in the Kanimbla Sea King tragedy, serving the suffering
people of Indonesia,
we give our thanks. For those who currently serve in theatres of war or the
threat of war, or natural disaster, we give our thanks. I personally pay
tribute to the chaplains who seek to bring light amidst the darkness that is the
inevitable corollary of war. We give you thanks.
May the
Anzac tradition continue until the reign of God breathes peace and justice into
all lives. Australian and New
Zealand service men and women, we the
civilian people of Australia
and New Zealand
salute you. Lest we forget.
