anzac ( off topic )

[Long Duck Dong]

today in new zealand ( 25th of april ) was anzac day

Australian and New Zealand Army Corps....

the service men and woman that fought and died at gallipoli in turkey during ww 1

as I stood and watched the veterans from ww2 ( there are no ww1 veterans alive ) nam, korea, singapore, malaysia...etc, march by.....I saw something in the eyes of the veterans..... a sense of duty and pride.....

war is senseless and brings death..... but to those veterans, it brought the true meaning of trust, honor and companionship.... something that most people can only guess at.....unless they have lived in their own clothes for weeks on end, eating, sleeping and living in mud, blood, disease and the remains of fallen comrades...

yet in the eyes of the veterans, I saw pride and duty..... they fought a war ...for us.....we owe them so much.......

I guess what i am trying to say.... is that its easy to sit down and post in a forum and slam the troops in iraq and the war in iraq and war in general..... but many of us share a common link..... we have family that were part of the effort to defend our rights to freedom and peace......

somewhere in the world, a family is gonna wait for news, a phone call, a voice.... and hear silence....and somewhere in the world will be somebody slinging off about the stupidity of war and iraq and fighting......

for me.... I will hear the words spoken today....words that bear a simple tribute to those that fought and died for our families and the generations to come.....simple words to great heroes, brothers, sons, fathers, mothers, daughters, sisters.....who fell in the fields and trenches, and those whom returned and stand with us no more

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Lest We Forget

[darkeyes]

When I used to do my folksie thing not so long back, one of my favourite things was to sing my version of a song written by Eric Bogle called "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda". It remains, together with his "No Mans Land" one of my favourite songs about the folly and insanity of war. This is it, no no doubt Duck will know it, as will many of the Oz an Kiwi's among us.

Appropriate I think for Anzac Day.


AND THE BAND PLAYED WALZING MATILDA

When I was a young man I carried me pack
And I lived the free life of the rover
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in 1915 my country said: Son,
It's time to stop rambling, there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
When the ship pulled away from the quay
And amid all the tears, flag waving and cheers
We sailed off for Gallipoli

It well I remember that terrible day
When our blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell they call Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk, he was ready, he primed himself well
He rained us with bullets, and he showered us with shell
And in five minutes flat, we were all blown to hell
He nearly blew us back home to Australia

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
When we stopped to bury our slain
Well we buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then it started all over again

Oh those that were living just tried to survive
In that mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
While around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head
And when I awoke in me hospital bed
And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead
I never knew there was worse things than dying

Oh no more I'll go Waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs both legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

They collected the wounded, the crippled, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind and the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And when the ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where me legs used to be
And thank Christ there was no one there waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity

And the Band played Waltzing Matilda
When they carried us down the gangway
Oh nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared
Then they turned all their faces away

Now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
I see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Renewing their dreams of past glories
I see the old men all tired, stiff and worn
Those weary old heroes of a forgotten war
And the young people ask "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question

And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men still answer the call
But year after year, their numbers get fewer
Someday, no one will march there at all

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the billabong
So who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?

© Eric Bogle

[dans94]

Thanks for posting the information. It inspired me to search out this site:
http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-...ther/audio.htm

That area of the world has a great, proud, history and tradition.

[FalconAngel]

That was a fitting tribute to the valiant men and women who have served in defense of freedom.
As a Veteran myself, I cannot help but feel for those who come back from the war (which I do disagree with). In the case of Iraq, they die needlessly, which is a waste of good men. However, this thread is not about that.
It is about our veterans and active duty Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines.

All of them.

Not Americans, nor Australian nor British nor German nor any single nation's offerings to the altar of freedom. Your post is a tribute, in fact to the honor of ALL of the free world's military personnel who have given some or all for their fellow human, that others may live in freedom. These people have shown honor and should be accorded that respect.

You have done so, and quite admirably, from your national perspective.

Your post may give those who do not celebrate days like Memorial Day or Veterans Day here in the States something to consider the next time they see a combat wounded Veteran, or their plane is delayed because the body of one of our fallen heros has to be loaded aboard to go home to his/her final rest.

I know that I do respect those of my brothers in arms who have gone before me and after me. We are all part of a fellowship that cannot be broken by age, social status or gender.
And we all appreciate when a civilian understands and respects the sacrifices that it takes to follow the warrior's path.

[innaminka]

I have just finsished (pure coincidence) Les Carlyon's book.
The Great War
I am not a war-book reader normally, but this came highly recommended.
Its something like 800 pages long - its the story of the Australians in WW1 after they landed in France - from Fromelles to St Quentin.
Its not just dry history - Carlyon must have read just about every letter written from that time; its the struggle seen from the personal point of view.

I found I was unable to put it down.

[Solomon]

today in new zealand ( 25th of april ) was anzac day

Australian and New Zealand Army Corps....

the service men and woman that fought and died at gallipoli in turkey during ww 1

as I stood and watched the veterans from ww2 ( there are no ww1 veterans alive ) nam, korea, singapore, malaysia...etc, march by.....I saw something in the eyes of the veterans..... a sense of duty and pride.....

war is senseless and brings death..... but to those veterans, it brought the true meaning of trust, honor and companionship.... something that most people can only guess at.....unless they have lived in their own clothes for weeks on end, eating, sleeping and living in mud, blood, disease and the remains of fallen comrades...

yet in the eyes of the veterans, I saw pride and duty..... they fought a war ...for us.....we owe them so much.......

I guess what i am trying to say.... is that its easy to sit down and post in a forum and slam the troops in iraq and the war in iraq and war in general..... but many of us share a common link..... we have family that were part of the effort to defend our rights to freedom and peace......

somewhere in the world, a family is gonna wait for news, a phone call, a voice.... and hear silence....and somewhere in the world will be somebody slinging off about the stupidity of war and iraq and fighting......

for me.... I will hear the words spoken today....words that bear a simple tribute to those that fought and died for our families and the generations to come.....simple words to great heroes, brothers, sons, fathers, mothers, daughters, sisters.....who fell in the fields and trenches, and those whom returned and stand with us no more

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Lest We Forget

i hear that loud an clear, is probably what draws me to study the Civil War... that sense of duty and pride is a powerful combination