War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and
degraded state of moral and patriotic feelings, which thinks that nothing
is worth war, is much worse.
A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight; nothing he cares
about more than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no
chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men
than himself.
(John Stewart Mill)
Thanks fellas.
Lest we forget.
It's unimaginable what our country would be like if it weren't for the diggers. My kids are marching today (with their school, as a choice), although we don't have direct relatives that fought - the missus & I strongly believe that part of our history needs to be commemorated and continued by future generations.
On the flip-side...I'm working most of the day - the diggers didn't get a day off, nor should I!
(loosely translated - recently self employed, so no-work = no-pay
).
Lest We Forget.
Did the Canberra war memorial tour last time I was over. Stalled me out looking at the wall of remembrance, particularly the one with WW1
Wonder what sort of place we would have today if all those thousands of young men/boys women/girls hadn't fallen
Lest we forget.
Thanks to all returned and serving army , navy, air force crew !
We all are enjoying the life and if not for you we would be RS.
A song for all the aussie heroes that marched and died for this country. RIP good men.
I'm in two minds about ANZAC day. Its important to remember those who served and suffered in war. My grandfather was dragged off a Newcastle street into the NSW militia. He ended up in New Guinea fighting the Japanese. He hated the place and hated the army. He was sick from maleria for the rest of his life from being forced over there. So its important to remember that ordinary blokes and women had to go and many of them didn't want to go.
I strongly believe almost all wars Australians served in had little to do with Australia, including the current wars Australian soldiers are fighting in. Turkey never threatened or invaded Australia for example but for some reason Australia ended up invading Turkey. Australians usually end up fighting because of lies. My grandfather had to fight the Japanese because Roosevelt pushed Japan into a corner to fight America in the Pacific rather than fighting the Soviet Union in Siberia.
So the saying "Lest we forget" seems to be an empty saying. Since 1918 politicians and the community in general forget all the time.
Moby what is the "two minds" you only listed things you don't like...?
I don't think Japan was pushed into a corner, they always wished to conquer all of the Asia-Pacific including Australia.
Even if we joined WW2 for the wrong reasons, we'd have to eventually when Japan was on our northern coastline.
Another meaningful quote:
"For choosing to fight, one gets the horrors of war, stress, and possibly
death.
For choosing not to fight, one gets subjugation, humiliation, and
possibly death.
Choose your fights carefully"
Did we have a choice....?
Moby, fair question and you probably are not alone in asking.
Spend a day at war memorial Canberra, see what, as a nation "we all lost"
Then add
"Lest we forget" 
ANZAC day isn't to get mixed up in the Political saga rights and wrongs. Nor to glorify War in any manner.
ANZAC is to remember those who went when asked, those that went when sub-scripted, of these, those that didn't make it back, those that did, and the freedom you and the rest of us enjoy today due to his/her sacrifice.
Two minds:
First:
Ordinary Australians dragooned into conflicts and suffering for what they know little about. Even volunteer soldiers should not have the expectation they have to fight unknown enemies at the whim of those with the power. They should join in the expection they have to fight if Australia is invaded. The ordinary soldier suffer while those giving orders enjoy the high life.
Second:
The whole point of day of rememberance is not to forget the horrors and digusting filth that war creates. "Lest we forget" What does that mean? Is it not a warning not to forget? Is it not telling us be careful about going to war because whatever apparent benefit of war is far outweighed by the cost.
Mineral1, I've been to the War Memorial a few times. I have relatives and ancestors listed on the Wall of Remembance there. I also have relatives and ancestors who died on the the Eastern Front fighting the Russians. I don't believe there was much difference between them. They were ordinary blokes pushed, dragged and killed in some stupid war.
Ahhh, ignorance of uninformed intelligence
Sorry for those sacrificed, but every war is colluded and ultimately pointless and avoidable
...and history is written by the ' winners'
hey redthumbs person, show some guts and reply. maybe you think we should not have provided assistance to the UN feeding Somalia?
Even better front up to a digger and tell him his mates died in vain.
That would be way better than redthumbing on a forum
My bet would be that every digger you ask would tell you themselves that their mates died in vain
Collusion
What happened was by design
How it happened was determined
The result was programmed
"A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight; nothing he cares
about more than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no
chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men
than himself"
I suppose it depends on how you fight?
Ghandi, Martin luther King and others like them all "fought" for their ideals
^^^^^^^
Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.
~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy
My old man spent 32 years in the RAF.
He fought in the second world war he was shot down at 17 y.o captured and finally told me his entire story before he died a couple of years ago. That was the first time i had ever heard in detail what he went through despite years of asking.
When i asked him why he didn't go for remeberance services he said that he didn't see the need. He didn't want to be one of the 'people parading around'
'Those times are passed we need to learn from it and move on' he would say
Personally i think its important - we need to remember those that have fallen and what they sacrificed for our freedoms.
Reli,
Out of interest do you march in honour of your father or (even though you feel it important to remember) are you inclined to follow his wish not to commemorate by "parading around"? - I for one would be very proud to march. I feel very grateful that my old man was too young for WWII and too old for Vietnam and that I've never had the fear of being conscripted to fight for our Country.
