HOW WE SEE IT! An Army of youth is quite the force

With Bryan Littlely and Shaun Hollis

Last updated:
Cartoon: Shaun Hollis

News of booing and heckling at a Melbourne Anzac Day dawn service devastates me. I don’t care what your intention is, who your target is and who you think you are representing… you can just nick off.

Rather than a steady flow of images from around Australia, and reaching to places across the world, of heartfelt memorials and thousands of people turning out in their country towns and regional cities to pay their respects, the news stream was headed by those disrespectful idiots.

Thankfully, we know that a growing wave of the next generation are carrying on the tradition, learnings and respect for our brave men and women who have fought for our country, supported those in that fight and now embrace them for the critical role they have played - continue to play - for our nation.

I have attended Anzac Day dawn services from Adelaide to Alice Springs, even Anzac Cove, marched, with my “Light Horse” on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day and am fortunate to have my much missed Vietnam Veteran mate’s medals to wear proudly on these occasions.

I have been to Nui Dat and the Long Tan memorial where that mate served and where my wife’s uncle tragically lost his life in the very last days of that conflict.

None of my family members - farmers all of them - served, instead staying home to keep farms ticking over or either too young or too old for the intake. But, surrounded by people who did serve and a regular at the local RSL with “uncles and aunties” from our tight-knit farming community, my fascination with the forces and my respect for our soldiers has always been strong.

Pleasingly, I see that flowing on to my daughter and her circle of friends. More pleasingly, I know that the youth I see most regularly are not unique. There is an army of young people around Australia turning out in force at our remembrance services to show support for our soldiers.

Thank you to those past and serving members of our Armed Forces for your service.

And thank you to our youth for what you are now doing to remember them.

Lest We Forget

 

Support public interest journalism

Help us to continue covering local stories that matter. Please consider supporting below.

Got a news tip?

Send a news tip or submit a letter to the Newsport Editor here.

Comments

Comments are the opinions of readers and do not represent the views of Newsport, its staff or affiliates. Reader comments are moderated before publication to promote valuable, civil, and healthy community debate. Visit our comment guidelines if your comment has not been approved for publication.