There have been two major noticeable differences between
Australian and American culture for me. 1) They show their veterans immense
gratitude and 2) They respect their farmers. Both of which I hope will rub off
on us as Americans. After all, without the first we have no freedoms and
without the other we have no food.
April 25th was ANZAC Day here and I am very
thankful that I was able to experience that during my stay. ANZAC stands for
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. This ANZAC Day was the 100th
anniversary of when Australian and New Zealand forces teamed together to take
over the Gallipoli Peninsula. The campaign was ultimately not successful but
the battle lasted 8 months. Over 8000 diggers (soldiers) were killed. The
people at home recognized the hard battle and the high casualty and so this day
was chosen as the day to remember all of the Australian and New Zealand forces
killed in military operations. You see although that particular campaign was
unsuccessful, it led to a stronger national identity, one based on “mateship”
which is still very alive today. Actually, if I could use one word to describe
Australia, it may very well be that word.
Leading up to ANZAC Day, there was a poppy tent in the town
square. Rani and I had made poppies there on Thursday. It was a nice creative
activity that showed remembrance. The poppies were attached to boards that were
part of the march to the dawn service. Also, in the train stations pins could
be bought with the money going to a veteran’s charity. I bought 3 pins and Rani
bought me one. The three I bought were military hats and Rani bought me the
ANZAC pin. The interesting thing about them was that each one came attached to
a card with the picture and biography of a fallen soldier. I thought that was a
really good idea.
War Memorial in Prince Alfred Park
The first activity of the day was the dawn service. This
service is held because it was at dawn when the soldiers invaded Gallipoli. I
met Rani at the Parramatta Station at 4:15AM and we met up with the march held
at the war memorial here. It was powerful to be marching through the street
with small children and elderly alike at such an hour. Several different people
spoke and many people also brought wreaths (which are still there) to lay at
the bottom of the memorial. One thing that struck me at this dawn service is
how Christian oriented it was. They said numerous prayers and sang many hymns.
What struck me about that was that this is a highly multicultural society here
yet they still practice Christian traditions. It seems like sometimes at home (specifically
the “under God” part of the pledge of allegiance) we bend and I don’t understand
how Australia, a country so diverse is able to pull that off. Interesting.
I ate breakfast before catching the train to the city for
the march. A note about breakfast: there was a surcharge on it because of the
holiday. Anyway I had decided to attend the dawn service in Parramatta instead
of Sydney because I thought it would be
more “cozy” and the fact that you had to get to Sydney by 2AM to get a place
for the dawn service there. For the march there was no way I was going to miss
that in Sydney. It was really crowded on the trains but that was actually good
because it meant more people were going to the march. Everyone took public
transport because the streets were closed off. Anyone wearing service medals or
in uniform (plus carers) was allowed free transportation that day.
Leaving the Town Hall Station there was no doubt about what
was going to happen. There were people lined up and down the street waving
their flags. I inquired about where I might get a flag and I was handed
several. They were actually giving them out for free! They were rather large
flags too. People were so happy and there were so many of them.
Finally the march started. First came the veterans too
feeble to walk the whole way so they were chauffeured in taxis or in the back
of army vehicles. Then it alternated between bands and service units. What
really struck me was of course the real elderly people that marched. One
gentleman was walking with the aid of a walker and had to switch to a
wheelchair midway through…you should have heard the crowd cheer! Can you
imagine being 80 years old and walking through the street having thousands of
people cheer for you? I can’t even imagine the feeling but I saw the looks of
pride and it was something magical. The parade went on for 3 hours and I don’t think
the clapping ever lessened. The older the person, the louder the cheers. Many
younger people marched with pictures of the fallen soldiers. One thing that was
a particularly nice touch was that jet planes and older planes (the big loud
ones) kept flying overhead as well. It was a full blown show for sure.
Cool hats!
Highlighting the diversity that is Australia...yes they played traditional bagpipe music
When I left there my feet were pretty tired but I had one
more stop that I had to make. That was at the Penrith Poppy Park. I am really
glad I made it there. First of all it was something new for me because I hadn’t
been to Penrith before. The train ride was about 45 minutes or possibly longer
but it was more than worth it. Basically, some people in Penrith decided to
plant over 102,000 plastic poppies to represent the number of soldiers who have
lost their lives. Each flower had a tag on it with the name of a soldier and
when/where they died. The poppies were being sold to cover the cost of the
installation with any extra going to veteran’s charities. Interesting thing
here was that you couldn’t pick a name, it was assigned at random. I thought
that was a good idea because some people wouldn’t have anyone to remember them
and yet their sacrifice will still be remembered. I can’t wait for my box to
arrive in the mail which should be this week. There was a purple poppy in the
middle of all of the red ones to pay tribute to the animals who lost their
lives in war which was nice. It was quite an experience standing in the middle
of these flowers in the shape of one large poppy. For a better vantage point,
you could go up in a lift for free.
On the way home from Penrith, it started to hail snow. It was funny to see the reactions. As you can imagine they were very much the opposite of what it would be in the middle of winter back home...only happy words were used:D
It was a long day but very worth it. Before coming to
Australia I wasn’t aware of the military history of this country. Sadly, it was Wendy who had to tell me that Australia fought with us in Afghanistan and Iraq! I think too
often we group Australia in with Britain when in reality they are quite
different. Also, we emphasize US military involvement but we need to remember
that we are not a one man show. Perhaps a few pages of our history books might acknowledge others efforts to the same cause. We have allies who will always be there for us.
Although said mockingly in an article I recently read: “If the US invaded Mars,
Australian would send a battalion along” sums up the alliance between the two
countries. Australia hasn’t had war declared on them directly or witnessed war on the
home front but yet they still make the sacrifice to help their friends. As a
matter of fact at times their parliament hasn’t even met before troops were
sent. I was recently arguing about how brave their constant involvement makes them and the person said “yes, but is
that a smart friend?”. I don’t know about that but it is the kind of friend I
would want. Also, might I add that Australian Special Forces are among (if not)
the best in the world.
EDIT: As usual someone (me) didn't have all of her facts together. In the words of my cousin Jon, "During WWII Australia was attacked by Japan. Japan bombed Darwin 19 Feb 1942. It was a surprise attack similar to Pearl Harbor. There were 62 more bombing attacks by Japan during 1942 & 1943 in the Northern Territory and Western Australia’s north".
One more thing that I would like to add is that in Australia they play a game called "two-up" on ANZAC Day in pubs and clubs. It is only allowed to be played on that day as it is gambling. A game based much more on luck than skill from what I can tell. It involves two coins beings tossed and wagers made on heads or tails. This game was very popular with the returning soldiers. I did not witness this first hand but wanted to add it as it is an important part of ANZAC festivities here.
EDIT: As usual someone (me) didn't have all of her facts together. In the words of my cousin Jon, "During WWII Australia was attacked by Japan. Japan bombed Darwin 19 Feb 1942. It was a surprise attack similar to Pearl Harbor. There were 62 more bombing attacks by Japan during 1942 & 1943 in the Northern Territory and Western Australia’s north".
One more thing that I would like to add is that in Australia they play a game called "two-up" on ANZAC Day in pubs and clubs. It is only allowed to be played on that day as it is gambling. A game based much more on luck than skill from what I can tell. It involves two coins beings tossed and wagers made on heads or tails. This game was very popular with the returning soldiers. I did not witness this first hand but wanted to add it as it is an important part of ANZAC festivities here.
When it comes down to it, ANZAC Day to me will always be a
memory of a 80 year old man shuffling down the street with a cane waving at
thousands of grateful people while smiling like he had just won the lottery. I
wish our veterans in the US could feel that too. I can’t help but think that as
a country so fixated on a military presence we could at least provide the
returning soldiers with adequate services to show our gratitude.
