Anzac Day

Ted. In most of the world, April 25 is a day like any other. In New Zealand and Australia, though, it is a day of remembrance, like our Veteran's Day. Originally intended to honor the ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) troops who fought and died at Galipoli during WWI, it now serves a broader purpose. 

While staying with Geoff and Neryle, our Servas hosts in Wahroonga, Australia, we visited the local RSL. Returned and Services League licensed clubs were originally gathering spots for vets (like our VFW or American Legion halls). Many of them have really expanded and include poker gaming machines, nice restaurants and other social amenities giving them a broad appeal to vets and non-vets alike. However, the RSL’s have never forgotten the importance of honoring those men and women who served their country. At 6:00pm each day, everyone on the premises stands for one minute while an ode to the fallen soldiers and sailors is read.

We found this really touching and we recalled the words of the ode several weeks later, while walking the grounds of the Sandakan Memorial Park in Eastern Borneo. This was the location of a Japanese POW camp where English and Australian soldiers were taken after the fall of Singapore in 1942. Towards the end of the war, the surviving prisoners were lead on a series of death marches. While six soldiers escaped and, aided by local Malays were able to survive, all of the remaining 2,400 prisoners died horribly.

As Judy and I stood in the chapel, just a bit weepy, we understood the final words of the RSL ode, “Lest We Forget…”

So, on this Anzac Day, we join our new friends in Australia and New Zealand in paying tribute to their veterans who served and, all too often, made the ultimate sacrifice.