ANZAC Day.

[Bend-it]

It's so fashionable for people to say there's another way, or war's bad etc... True, war is bad... but in so many cases, war is a response to being stuck between a rock and a hard place. It's the better of 2 evils that has been thrust upon a nation that didn't ask for it.

It's easy to make judgements in hindsight, about government decisions etc, but to the grunt who was told, and believed that he would be defending his nation, family and way of life, we owe our respect and thanks.

Faced with a similar situation, these protesters will be the very ones hiding in a hole, counting on others to defend them Edit: and then vilifying them for fighting the attackers.

[SARGE]

I am a pretty active member of the US Veterans Club here in Auckland .. Every year , we do a Memorial Day service at the Museum in the Hall of Memories.. its coming up here in a very short time .. i would love to see a few of you there that want to see how the Bastard Yanks do it .. not 5000 people, but 100 US Marines, Army, Navy and Air Force .. some as old as WW2 ( Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima) and some as young as Desert Storm.. some of us even in between "declared Wars" but still with the Honor of serving .. i will post details when they are confirmed to me.

[Big Dave]

I am a pretty active member of the US Veterans Club here in Auckland

'I'll never be over Iwo Jima.'

[SARGE]

thats right ....



pilgrim

[mstriumph]

It's so fashionable for people to say there's another way, or war's bad etc... True, war is bad... but in so many cases, war is a response to being stuck between a rock and a hard place. It's the better of 2 evils that has been thrust upon a nation that didn't ask for it.

It's easy to make judgements in hindsight, about government decisions etc, but to the grunt who was told, and believed that he would be defending his nation, family and way of life, we owe our respect and thanks.

Faced with a similar situation, these protesters will be the very ones hiding in a hole, counting on others to defend them.

I guess, due to the juxtapositioning of this post and mine, he's talking about me and i need to respond ... *sigh*
- i don't believe it to be offtopic or disrespectful to the thread or i wouldn't post.....

1... i've NEVER been fashionable - but i've always been honest [even when it's uncomfortable to be so ...]

2... UNLESS you or yours are being threatened or attacked or invaded 'rock & a hard place' arguement does not apply

3... hindsight? not likely - for example and despite how it was 'sold' to the public, most reasonable people knew from the outset that sending Australian troops into Iraq wasn't righteous under any of the arguements you have led ....... the fact that the invasion was found later to be based on lies and governmental self-interest only confirmed it .. and that isn't hindsight.

4... i'm not protesting Anzac Day per se nor meaning, in any way, to be disrespectful to those ordinary people that attend parades nor to those they honour .... and perhaps you didn't mean to imply that?........... but, if you did, silly of you to assume that people who decline to involve themselves in other people's battles are afraid or unwilling or incapable of fighting their OWN battles ....


... but then i'm a celt - i was born stroppy.

[Deano]

I always remember my pop on Anzac Day. He only passed away a few years ago but served at Guadal (sp) Canal in WW2.

He never spoke about the war, even after I asked him once (when I found his medals in an old tin in the outside laundry/shed, while ferreting about as a kid)

It's hard to comprehend the thought of going off to war, for me at least.

[SARGE]

I guess, due to the juxtapositioning of this post and mine, he's talking about me and i need to respond ... *sigh*
- i don't believe it to be offtopic or disrespectful to the thread or i wouldn't post.....

1... i've NEVER been fashionable - but i've always been honest [even when it's uncomfortable to be so ...]

2... UNLESS you or yours are being threatened or attacked or invaded 'rock & a hard place' arguement does not apply

3... hindsight? not likely - for example and despite how it was 'sold' to the public, most reasonable people knew from the outset that sending Australian troops into Iraq wasn't righteous under any of the arguements you have led ....... the fact that the invasion was found later to be based on lies and governmental self-interest only confirmed it .. and that isn't hindsight.

4... i'm not protesting Anzac Day per se nor meaning, in any way, to be disrespectful to those ordinary people that attend parades nor to those they honour .... and perhaps you didn't mean to imply that?........... but, if you did, silly of you to assume that people who decline to involve themselves in other people's battles are afraid or unwilling or incapable of fighting their OWN battles ....


... but then i'm a celt - i was born stroppy.

MsT.. you know i respect the hell out of you ... but at the end of the day .. Didnt Hussein need to go?

[jrandom]

Didnt Hussein need to go?

I'd like to discuss that, but I think it's a matter for another thread.

[mstriumph]

MsT.. you know i respect the hell out of you ... but at the end of the day .. Didnt Hussein need to go?

t'was just an example, good buddy ........ first one that sprang to mind as it's still topical ........... and, for sure, the man was despicable....

look forward to arguing it out over a beer next time we are over there

[mstriumph]

I'd like to discuss that, but I think it's a matter for another thread.

yeah - sorry - you are right

my bad for bringing it up

[Bend-it]

Nevermind...

Respects to all who gave so much, apologies for my generation.

Some of us still remember that freedom isn't free.

[Phurrball]

While I have thought about the horrors of war on occasion, and the tremendous sacrifices made by others to protect what I hold dear, I have never been moved to go to a dawn ceremony - until yesterday.

At the end of last year, my last surviving grandparent shuffled of this mortal coil. As nana served in the Royal Navy's WRENS I was always aware that she went to the dawn parades, although she and grandad never talked about the war.

Strange, but I feel as if the mantle has been passed, and it is important for me to go to this year's and future dawn parades, as the last of my family that served has gone.

My grandmother's wartime service was poignantly remembered at her funeral when an RSA representative read out details of her service, the last post was played after we laid poppys on her casket. I guess it struck me then that nana, and all the other everyday people who served, sacrificed so much for us all and the least I can do is to humbly reflect on the significance of their sacrifice by going to the ANZAC day dawn parades.

It was foggy at dawn out west at the Waikumete Cenotaph - which seemed appropriate for sombre reflection. I'm glad I went. I should have been going for years...

SARGE - your post on PTSD reminded me of that 1980's Paul Hardcastle track "19" that brought home the realities of a war that never ended for the vets when they got home...

Food for thought that...

[Ixion]

I'd like to discuss that, but I think it's a matter for another thread.

Yes. It is. I'll leave it there, but if it sends things off on a tangent I'll remove those posts.

[pritch]

This from Masterton(?).

This guy is unreal (literally).

Among many other things he was in the Navy (a submariner no less) he was in the SAS, and was awarded a Purple Heart.
I guess you could get hurt doing parachute jumps from a submarine...

I am reasonably informed as to what ribbons belong to what, and have seen some odd things, but this takes the cake.

People of my aquaintance are really keen to find out who this is.

Feel free to PM me if you know.

[ynot slow]

says it all,was for the anzacs,then as they all passed away it was for servicemen/women.forgive my snide remarks but is not religion the dreaded cause of most wars.also i recall my mum saying once that from the small naki town of manaia were she was raised she had 6 uncles go to ww2 and they all returned,but also in the town she knew of families who had 2 or 4 sons go and none came home,makes you wonder the luck of the draw so to speak