Geocaching Australia

Lest we forget.



Each year we seem to have a thread for Anzac Day. I thought why should this year be any different. I was half expecting one to appear last night.

We had a remembrance at our school yesterday that was very moving and I woke my sons at 5 this morning to attend dawn service. It was their first. They were surprised to see half the city (Dubbo) in attendance. It's always special and this year was no different.

I attended the day service for scouts but it was so crowded I couldn't actually get near them to stand with them. A hazard of arriving on time. Next year I'll have to go early. So after three services I'm all Anzac'd out if there is such a thing.

So the rest of the day will be doing a little study, spending time with family, some photography and laying out the design for my new web space. I have to do some planning and scouting for the up coming June Long Weekend Event but it will probably be this weekend I'll do that.

Tell us about your Anzac day and maybe what it means to you.

Got up at 0450 (which is 0150 Canberra time!) and rang the High Commissioner to make sure he was up.

Headed down to Pangai Si'i, where the Tongan Cenotaph is. Tonga holds the first dawn service each year, given the timezone/geography.

A good standard service, including a reading by me and about 200 people. Then breakfast back at the High Commissioner's residence and then a nap in the afternoon (while the 14 month old was napping).

I don't have anything poignant to say...sorry

I was on night shift so nocked off early, met the boys and in we went.
4:30am at the Carilion in Bathurst, arrived to learn that 4 or 5 14-16 year old girls had defaced the memorial, But thanks to the nsw fire brigade, army reserve boys, council staff & a group of lads on there way home from the pub, all got in and cleaned it up.
We ask what prompts kids to do such a thing? I hope they are made appologise to the diggers in person.
Other than that another great service, biggest one I have seen.
for me a day to pay respects and thank all who fought to give us the life we enjoy.

LEST WE FORGET.

Saw that on both the local and National news.

Shame on them. Surprising that it's girls. This is the third news story this week where I have been surprised to find girls involved instead of boys.

If they set out to create an impression they achieved that. I to hope they have the opportunity to sit down with the diggers and their wives.

I took my wife and daughter to the Windsor Dawn Service. This was Mikaela's first one. Her Year 5 Class is learning about ANZAC Day and what it means to them. As part of the lesson she has to interview 8 adults on what ANZAC Day means to them.

Mikaela interviewed me after school yesterday while we were having afternoon tea.

As an Ex-serviceman, ANZAC Day has a slightly different meaning than it would to a Returned Serviceman/woman. Thou I did 23years in the RAAF, I missed out on my deployment to Iraq as it was cancelled, to allow another unit to take over from my unit.

So, for me as well as honouring those who served in previous conflicts, it is more of a time to reflect about the friends I left behind when I discharged from the ADF, and who are currently serving in either Iraq or Afghanistan.

This is the second year that our girls have marched in an Anzac service. They march with the girls brigade. It's been great for them as last year after the service I asked them some questions about what Anzac day was, why we remembered it, what Anzac means etc and they didn't know much. This year they could answer every question and could even relate it to their uncle who is currently in the armed forces.
This afternoon we went geocaching. Did a very appropriate cache called Private Clark GC10EPG.

My boys and I attended the dawn service at Watsonia Army Barracks in Melbourne with ADAcache & family. It was my boys (8 & 10) first dawn service.

I joined the RAAF with ADAcache when we were 15, so a long association together and nice to have our two families still so close after all these years.

After ADAcache returned from the messes in early afternoon, we finished the day with a healthy round of half dozen caches.

I worked

Helping report on all the ANZAC stories through our news wire.

I've been to the rememberence services in Ballarat and Canberra (very cold at both).

Visited Gallipoli last year (NOT on ANZAC day) and Chu Chi Tunnels in Vietnam.

Amazingly, Australians seem to get a more than friendly response from people in areas where we fought. I'm not sure whether that will be the case in Iraq in 50 years time, but that's another thread.

Being born on the 25th Apr does have its benefits. I share the day with 3 other people in our extended family who all popped out on the same day.<BR>I get a day off each year to celebrate. I feel priveliged to share the day with all the diggers who fought for our country. I'm usually very lucky at 2-up having never walked away out of pocket. <BR>After hearing how many people attended the dawn service in Canberra this year I think I'll head there next year. Approx' 20,000 people.<P>I hope everyone had a good ANZAC day cause I sure did. Happy Birthday to me!

Happy b'day for Wednesday Mr Rat ! 21 again ????

If you go to Canberra, take a thickpair of socks, gloves and beanie. You'll be surprised how cold you get standing still in the pre-dawn cold.

BTW - It's about as moving as you can get without being at battlefield for the day.

There's something to be said for the smaller remembrance services, too - we were in the UK for Anzac Day in 2000, and participated in a service at a local church cemetery. We had a bugler for the Last Post and Reveille, a British Army piper in dress uniform - and only about 20 people gathered. Together with the olde bluestone church and a rolling mist, it was a very memorable service - and nice to think that we were making sure the Aussies in the cemetery were not forgotten.
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Anzac Day here in the US is pretty much a non-event - Slider participates in a short service with the other Aussies in the office where he works, but a mid-morning gathering just doesn't evoke the same feelings. We were hoping to make it over to Arlington for the Embassy service this year, but unfortunately something else popped up and we had to cancel.
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And we agree with Spindoc Bob about Canberra and the cold - we did four Anzac Day dawn services in Campbell, without the benefit of beanies (ahhh ... uniform regulations!) and experienced firsthand how bloody cold it was in late April. Brrr.

I also worked but fortunately my line of work has me attending all the services/marches etc . Ours is a relatively small area but a good number of people turn up. For about the last 5 years, there has been a kookaburra join in the service - every year at the end of the last post, he/she breaks into an extended song, can't get much more Australian