As a pacifists I deplore all war, as a senseless waste of human life. There is no glory to be had, nothing to celebrate.
The participants are most often duped, willingly or unwillingly, to believe what they are doing is just and noble, lead by liars that say they are making an unselfish sacrifice for the good of their fellow man, their family, their community, their nation, even for freedom and democracy itself. The coldness of the reality is different, with nothing to be had other than death and destruction, and in many cases the loss of dignity and a continuing torment for those that survive.
ANZAC Day itself is based on a lie, that somehow young Australian boys were off in a far away land to fight the good fight to protect the ideals of empire and nation, the truth was somewhat different.
There is no purpose served by condemning the naive participants in war, the common soldier is as much a victim of war as anyone.

So, Paul, all war is senseless, have a look at the terrible hardships that the people of South Korea have to endure because of US/UN intervention.
Where is the prosperity and human progress in that country?
Just go to Google Night View and see the lights of South Korea and compare it to the darkness over the North.
The only places with less electricity are the North and South Polar regions and the Sahara Desert.

I imagine that Europe is a better place because Hitler was stopped and the sacrifices by Australia towards the defeat of Japan does mean that we are able to type on normal keyboards.

See:http://www.lexilogos.com/keyboard/hiragana.htm
and that is a simplified version of the typewriter keyboard.

Is Mise,

There is a hole in that bucket.

General Comment
The stark reality is that following WW1 and WW2 the family farms of my forebears were run almost entirely by women. Our families did not even get the men back crippled. It is easy to understand why all of children myself included, did men's work and were so strongly encouraged towards independence.

Their valour, comradeship and sacrifice, and the long years of loss and suffering of their wives, children and families, demand recognition from the nation that sent them.

It is insulting where flakey, political lightweights such as the NSW 'Watermelon' Greens cynically hitch a ride on ANZAC Day to score some limelight for themselves, headline-hunting as per usual. That is low.

Then along comes self-avowed NSW 'Watermelon' Greens himself, Paul1405, to cock his leg as the lunar Greens Trotskyists do, on the men, women and families whose sacrifices are being commemorated. Yet his mate, Greens Shoebridge, wants a paid Monday off! Hypocritical Greens.

Doubtless in his own defence storytelling Paul1405 will now find a forgotten relative who was in the army somewhere. However Paul1405's patronising insult of the 'naive' volunteers was meant and still stands.

HASBEEN.......? Hell mate, yours is one of the saddest contributions I've ever read since I've subscribed to this Forum ! And just a few short weeks to the Centenary of ANZAC DAY too ! You, a former Navy Pilot, publically admitting your total dismay and despondency, for the country you proudly served ? What a total disgrace ! We all should hang our collective heads in shame ! HASBEEN, I'm so very sorry, I really am.

You're a proud ex Navy man HASBEEN, don't let the bastards get either you or your admirable son down ! None of these foreign interlopers or politically (anti-military) pariahs could hold a candle to either of you, for the service you've both willingly bestowed upon this (once) great country of ours ! I'll admit, this bewildering even enigmatic era we're now all living in, tends to disillusion me as well ? And I'll readily admit being totally confounded by the pace of 'change' that I cannot help but witness daily, change that doesn't always augur well for most of us ?

Still for us, our family and our friend's sake, we must soldier on. You're not the only ex-serviceman who's heartily sick of the lack of direction this country is experiencing ? Many of us see what needs to be done, yet for some inexplicable reason our political leaders are either blind or uninterested in doing what's the right thing ?

Still, there's not a lot you and I can do as individuals, other than not to weaken, and in so doing allow other, far less savoury people to take the initiative, and usurp all the good things this country is renowned for. Take care HASBEEN !

Hi there PERICLES...

Your thread was particularly relevant considering the importance of this ANZAC centenary. Ypres, was of significant resonance for me as well, my maternal Grandfather was at Ypres, with the 30thBn AIF and he was fortunate enough to make it back to Oz, after having been gassed, bombed and buried in mud. Consequently he spent 10 or 11 months in Hospital in England, before being repatriated back to Oz in 1918. Regrettably he died relatively young. My Dad's father, was in the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1901, in South Africa. He died in the early 1950's and I never got to hear of his active service, unfortunately ?

Interestingly that 'both' of your parents served during the war ? I would imagine many of their principles, standards and belief systems would've been their own personal testimony, created and forged as a result of their individual service ? As a consequence, passed on to you and your siblings ? Much of what they taught you, would've came from the school of 'hard knocks' ? Communal living, sharing, group participation, would been inculcated well and truly into your upbringing, and what valuable lessons they would've been too, I believe ?

I heard on radio today, a veteran was lamenting the fact, those ANZAC Days long past, when all the city pubs were overflowing with well dressed men, adorned with their gongs, laughing and smiling as they noisily conveyed their war service days all those years ago ? Today, the same pubs still do the same roaring trade, only it's young men without a gong amongst them, using the occasion as an excuse to be rowdy, misbehave and generally engage in anti-social behaviour !

Seemingly the special significance of this very distinctive Day, as you quite rightly opine, no longer prevails and many people just use the occasion as a justification to celebrate, to party and generally have a jolly rousing time. The solemnity of the Dawn Service - well far too early for most people, anyway some are just returning home by then anyway ?

G'day there IS MISE...

Correct ! Armies march on their stomachs, I'm reliable informed ? A free feed, a 'gunfire' breakfast, and a few well rationed barbecue's needed to be politely attended during the course of the day ?

Funnily, as each year passes you see the blokes you served with, all those years ago. With each successive year, friends appear to have aged, some put on weight, some lose their hair, while others just look older ? I wonder what they must think, when they gaze upon my 'haggard' increasingly ugly countenance ? You're right IS MISE, meeting up with the blokes, that's the magic for me at least.

Hi there ONTHEBEACH...

Reading your opinion of the 'Greens', I heard on the radio today, both the 'Greens' and the Unions want the Monday after ANZAC Day, declared as a public holiday ? Believe it or not, when asked why, they said the extra day was to help them to better remember all Australia's war dead, and the supreme sacrifices they had made. In a much more solemn and dignified manner by having the extra time to much better reflect and remember them all ? What a novel idea eh ?

Aren't the Green Party, and most Unions, inexorably against anything to do with the Military ? Certainly they're totally against any military action, our government might wish to undertake, whatever their reasoning may be ? Maybe there might be a significent shift in their basic political ideology perhaps, one can only wait and see I suspect ?