Anzac Day, the day we remember our fallen soldiers, the day we remember their sacrifice, the great price they paid to ensure our freedom today. Sadly, it also reminds us of the tragedies of war, scenes orhestrated by the powers at hand & commanders & played out in a brutal furnace, a sad waste. Yet, we reflect and pray that lives would not be wasted like this again.
Do we learn from history? To glorify war is wrong, but to remember the fallen is respectful, and an honourable thing to do; and hopefully a reminder that we must work towards peace.
The Ode
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
The Ode comes from For the Fallen, a poem by the English poet and writer Laurence Binyon and was published in London in The Winnowing Fan: Poems of the Great War in 1914. This verse, which became the Ode for the Returned and Services League, has been used in association with commemoration services in Australia since 1921.
Lest We Forget
