Sunday, April 24, 2011

Lest We Forget

 Lest We Forget.

We went to the Australian War Memorial today.  
It was an honour to take my boys there.  It's a very special place.





The above is an extract from a nurse's journal on the 11th June 1915.  
It reads, 'I must not think or my nerve will go and I will be useless.  We are all wanted with every ounce of strength we possess.'

I read a few other similar pieces from others, from journals, to letters home to loved ones.  Different wars, different zones, but all brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, daughters, sons, aunties, uncles, friends, nieces and nephews.  It doesn't matter what war, it doesn't matter where or when.  They will be all thought of tomorrow and we thank them for our freedom.




We are going back in the morning for the dawn service. . . . we are going back
for L.E. Willoughby.  We are going for the 'young husband' noted at the end of this list, we are going for the nurse who wrote in her journal above, we are going for a very dear friend whose life was cut way too short, like so many others, simply because he wanted to serve his country.
We are going for all the young men and women who continue to serve our country today. 
  These are the people I am going to be thinking about tomorrow morning.

Thanks for stopping by my place today.  

Posted by Joyce. xx

3 comments:

Miss Prudence said...

Beautifully put Joyce - it is a remarkable building that brings out the best in people isn;t it?

TK said...

Joyce I went to my VERY FIRST dawn service in Pt Lincoln this morning before driving back to Adelaide - it was beautiful, touching and so so moving. I have a HUGE problem with war so it was a rather question filled but grounding time for me and I spent much of my journey home to Adelaide asking 'whys'.....Thankyou for this beautiful post, TK xx

'Joyce' said...

Thank you for making sense of my feelings. lol. Tiffany, isn't it such a wonderful experience, sad, happy, chokey, humbling, thankful, grateful, proud. I dislike war and use Anzac Day to keep the memory of these men and women alive and hopefully pass this onto my boys so that they are humbled by the sacrifice given so that we can be free. 'Let not their lives be in vain, but remember them.' I have heard this read before and it's so true. This is also for the thoughts of today's servicemen and servicewomen. I hope your journey home brought you the reflection time you needed. It's a very personal journey attending the Dawn Service. I appreciate and thank you for sharing your feelings. War is certainly not a nice subject, but to know that others feel the same and to share it with so many in the dark of the morning gives a sense of sharing the burdon of our thoughts. Oh I dont even know if I am making sense but I so appreciate you comments and love that we are able to share our experiences.
Thank you so much for stopping by and bless.