Anyone who has ever lived in the middle of a 'soldier settlement' at any time as I have would realise that Anzac Day has enormous emotional significance for returned men and women and their families.
The very least the rest of the community can do is honour the enormous sacrifice and ongoing upheaval in the lives of those who fought.
The war is not over for them. It will never be over. They are still suffering physically and mentally and their families are often strained to breaking point by it at times.
Anzac Day is not a day of celebration. It should be a day of solemn remembrance and reflection. Most people will use it as an excuse to have a day off work and give little, if any thought, to the meaning behind it.
The disaster of Gallipoli should be used as an example of the utter futility of war and the lesson should be taught to every one of us.

Poor Brian Holden - embittered,disillusioned and lampooner of National Icons. His obnoxious tirade of Anzac Day is nothing innovative, particularly at a time when even retired members of the Clergy i.e Alan Matheson also analsyises "Anzac Day: a faith event" on OLO, this week.

Beneath the scatology, both B & A seem to be suffering chronic PTSD, with the proverbial ' sour grapes ' thrown in. Whatever. The shibboleth's have served Aust's forgotten hero's for over a century.Anzac Day will continue to prevail, enlightening, educating our youth - 0f the sacrifices their forefathers made to uphold our National beliefs, ensuring our Country remains free of Tyranny, despotism and mindless terrorism.

So what if Anzac Day is celebrated with marches, fifes and drums ? It symbolises the reverences paid to Veterans who returned - to their mates who didn't. Marching, hobbling or being transported in military jeeps signifies these vets are still capable, rain, hail or sunshine,of saluting their cobber's demise and paying homage to those long departed. Many interred in Foreign lands, yet still remembered.

Terry Sweetman, of the Courier Mail wrote of his visits to War Cemetaries worldwide.Of how he was overcome with grief at the Kanchanaburi and Chung Kai War cemetery in Thailand, where he viewed the plaques carrying the names, military insignia and short epitaphs for Dutch, British, French and Aussie soldiers who worked the Burma-Thai death railway, succumbing to tropical diseases, malnutrition and the relentless barbaric treatment of the Japanese Military. Who can forget ?

There is nothing ' dilussional ' about the Sandakan-Ranau death march in which only 6 survived. The sinking of the Centaur, where of 332, only 64 survived, nor the horrors of Changi, Tamarkan etc POW camps.
These surviving diggers march, limp and drag themselves religiously every 25th April to attend the dawn service, and where possible repeat themselves later in the day, accompanied by their grand-children who are not swayed by avant-garde ' kitchen-sink mentality ' iconic busters !

The American equivalent is Memorial Day - last Monday in May. Most States observe it in memory of the dead servicemen and

Romany,

I take your point on board and I will admit that perhaps the quote I provided was not entirely consistant with what I was really trying to say. It may have been too militaristic and melodramtic. So I will attempt to articulate my passion and emotional response to the ANZAC's and their enduring spirit.

I mourn the loss of the young lives sent to war. I mourn the aftermath of war on those who served. I mourn for the mothers who sent their boys off to war to never see them again. I mourn for the loss of families- never to be together again. I mourn for the corruption of innocence. I even mourn for the ugliness of humankind that even considers war as a solution.

So for me, I think of an unnamed solider, huddling in freezing, disease ridden conditions, wondering "what the hell did I let himself in for." I think of him realizing the foolhardiness of his choice to go to a foreign land in the search of excitement and adventure. I think of him having that split second thought before he takes his last breath and his last thought of "this is not how my life is supposed to end."

On ANZAC Day I honor the fact that their deaths were not in vain. I honor the fact that they are not forgotten. I honor that their lives really did made a difference. And that difference is evident in the tears and hearts of those who respectfully honor ANZAC Day.

Yeah, lets cancel the entire day ! It serves very little purpose anymore. Most (including the RSL), have completely lost the meaning of what the day represents.

It's been taken over by the Politicians; Broadcasters (all lecturing us on how we must feel; act; and behave... ad nauseam). In fact, all and sundry; including those with the slightest, most remote connection to some poor obscure veteran, hidden somewhere deep within the family's lineage.

Even children and those representing a family member, can march on the Day. The poor old legitimate veteran seems evermore 'crowded' out of his OWN March by an ever increasing bunch of interlopers, all veying for a spot in the reflected glory and limelight of ANZAC Day.

I remember not so long ago, it was not at all prudent to admit that you were a veteran. Particularly a Vietnam Veteran. Today, it's almost fashionable to be so, or at least have a very close connection to a veteran.

I remember very very clearly arriving at Mascot Airport in the early hours of the morning, no welcome whatsoever (except from a scattering of Custom Officers), told to wear civies, and than spirited off into the night to our various homes and/or Barracks.

A couple of days later, we marched down George Street, Sydney as some sort of a 'welcome home' parade, and our CO had red paint thrown over him, as he led that parade. Some welcome home ?

Yeah, cancel the day absolutely ! Or let the fashionable 'left' take it over. Myself, I'm done with it.

It is time Anzac day was replaced.

The thing about WAR, it always beings about the thoughts of pointless deaths and the holes that it leaves in peoples life's. The marches must keep going to remind us of the waste and the pain that it causes.

This subject will stir many opinions and its up us to have the sentivities and common respect for the ones that it most affects.

All of us.

servicemen and women, in all Wars.

One has only to watch the beaming, smiling faces, proud-as-punch alongside Grandpa, to realise Anzac Day will survive, B & A notwithstanding.

The Australian War Memorial is not a glorification of War; an edification of Oz's military prowess; nor even a relic of the past - it's a collection of Historical memorabilia from 1885-1973. It covers the Sudan, Boer, Korea, Borneo, Vietan etc It's showrooms recently redesigned, enlarged, spanning a greater part of Cambell in Canberra. It contains the who's who of the tri-service, legends, and an encyclopaedia of most conflicts; a researcher's paradise rivalling the National Archives. Their information service via the Internet, media and publications is our Nation's treasure.

BH quote: " implied on Anzac Day is that we were noble and our enemies not " ?? " war automatically opens the door to brutality "

The sheer brutality of the Bushido Military Clique 1937-1945 is legendary horror. The rape of Nanking, Hong Kong and Singapore etc has never before been perpetuated in the Annals of warfare, since Atilla the Hun and the Mongol invasion of China. It wasn't combatants who were starved, tortured and murdered in cold blood, it was tens-0f-thousands of civilians who were bayoneted, pack-raped, incinerated and beheaded in the name of Emperor Hirohito.

We treated Japanese POW's humanely, and in accordance with the Geneva Convention. The fact POW's rebelled and committed hari-kari at Cowra is an indictment of the Japanese psyche. Weasel words wont convince us otherwise. The culprits were hanged after the War. Everyone professing their innocence,swearing they performed their duty to their God's anointed, Emperor.

Service Chaplins come in all Faiths and sizes. In Vietnam, the padres put in an extraordinary amount of their time in Orphanages, Catholic hospices for abandoned children of US servicemen, deformed, maimed,discarded jetsam. They shared the mortar and rocket attacks, cold meals and privations.

Perhaps, Chaplins should served in theatres of War, under constant threat, and endured it with stoic equanimity. Beside's it's a Honorary role, promotion,and a coveted Order of Australia is the last thing in a practicing priest's agenda.