ANZAC Day is only a week away so today I’m dedicating this blog to all of those men and women who have served their country by enlisting, or by being conscripted into the military forces. I salute you. Here are some of my reflections from someone who served – but not in a combat zone as was the misfortune of some.
Not every soldier who dies heroically in battle receives a medal, but ironically it is the military staff officers that somehow gets a chest full of medals for participating in each campaign, usually from the secure position of their HQ command post.
It is all too easy to forget the heroic deeds of those who laid down their lives for the “good cause” proclaimed loud and long by their political leaders. Many men died simply by following orders, orders given by a higher command – whether the command was foolhardy or not. The order had to be obeyed. Such is the nature of military command.
We honour those who march as a sign of respect, respect that they do not seek for themselves, for those who return from battle know full well that the greater honour belongs to those who cannot march – for their bodies have been laid to rest in the land where they fought and died.
It seems that the tragic lessons that a generation learns from going to war is forgotten all too soon. Why is this so? Perhaps it is the unrequited desire of youthful men wanting to be honoured themselves – so that they too can return from battle as heroes with their heads held high like their forefathers did before them. Perhaps it is simply that in every generation there are men born to be soldiers, whose sole desire and purpose in life is to defend their country – even to the point of death if need be.
Are ANZAC Day ceremonies glorifying war? Hardly, given that the day itself is drawn from one of Australia’s most catastrophic military defeats. On the shores and clifftops of Anzac Cove, in the distant waters of the Dardanelles, our history was written in blood. Volumes have been written about the blunders, the failures of high command, the chaos and the devastation that consumed every front. And yet it is precisely this battle that endures as the defining lesson for military commanders across generations: that winning a war depends far less on fighting to the last man than on the courage to negotiate a lasting and mutually beneficial peace.
It wasn’t all that long ago that the Australian government took the unprecedented step of conscripting young men to fight in an overseas conflict in Vietnam. Australia’s involvement was mainly due to America’s pressure on our politicians to give them assistance. It was a controversial “war” right from the start as there was never a formal declaration of war either by the US or by the Australian government, so the legalities of conscription was always in question – and our young men knew it. There were those who were the anti-conscripts (draft dodgers) versus those who did their duty for God and country. At this point Australia was divided, and that rift has never truly been mended, even to all these decades later.
At the risk of being crass at a time when many Australians believe that the remembrance of our fallen is a sacred day, I would like to make known a magnificent book titled “With ANZACS In Vietnam” written by Rob Laurent. Festoon Publishing can take no credit for the publishing of this book as it is a book that has just been made available to me through this website for distribution. The original publishing company and distribution network ceases to exist.
Rob Laurent served as a medic in Vietnam and has taken the time to make a record of the Vietnam conflict from a soldier’s perspective. It is written as a pictorial account so that children and teenagers will know what everyday life was like for their fathers and grandfathers who fought in Vietnam. The book owes much of its content to the many army vets who contributed their own photographs free of charge so that there would be a comprehensive record for all to appreciate, both now and until the end of time.
Lest We Forget.
