Lest we forget

I'm sure you've all seen these three words many times through your lives, so have I, but it's only now that I realize the full meaning and experience of the ANZAC soldiers in the front line of Gallipoli, Lone Pine, The Neck, The Somme and many more.
Ever since I was a kid,I've always loved learning about wars, even pretending to be one. Every year on television, I would watch the veterans march to Town Hall in Sydney. They all were proud of what they have done to server the country and they are happy to see their mates again.
I would like to share a verse form 'The Band Player Waltzing Matilda' with you


    And so now every April I sit on my porch
    And I watch the parade pass before me.
    And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march,
    Reviving old dreams of past glory.
    And the old men marched slowly, all bones stiff and sore,
    They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war,
    And the young people ask,"What are they marching for?",
    And I ask meself the same question.
         But the band plays Waltzing Matilda,
         And the old men still answer the call.
         But as year follows year, more old men disappear,
         Someday no one will march there at all.

The second last line 'But as year follows year, more old men disappear', when I first read it, it came to me (I don't know why) that I had to research if how many Australian Soldiers from World War One are actually still alive. But I was too late. When I was 4, starting kindergarten at school, the last Australian soldier to have served at Gallipoli had died peacefully in his sleep. His name was Mr Alec William Campbell. Australia and New Zealand have lost the last living connection of Gallipoli.
And the 'Someday no one will march there at all' is this day..

It has been 98 years since the soldiers of the front line charged onto the shores of Gallipoli and I have promised myself to see the old veterans of other wars Australia has fought in for the first time not on the tele and before the 100th Anniversary.

You would not believe how proud I am of them and the Country I live in. Australia.

Lest We Forget