Lest we forget

By Kath Gannaway
THE price of the freedom we all enjoy as Australians came at a horrible cost.
As communities along the Warburton Highway gathered for Anzac Day marches, services and reunions on Friday, that message was prominent in the speeches and minds of those taking part.
Speaking at an early morning service at the Wandin Yallock War Memorial, Federal Member for Casey, Tony Smith said 100,000 service men and women had died in conflicts across the nation’s history.
“Think of that later today when you see that MCG crowd, if it’s full, that’s the number,” he said, marrying the sobering statistic with another Anzac Day tradition.
At Yarra Junction, Upper Yarra Secondary College students Dhania McKechnie and Emily Meehan spoke of the loss and legacy of young men of their own age who never returned home.
“Anzac Day is a tradition, paid for in blood and celebrated in our freedom,” said Ms McKechnie, who in 2006 walked the Kokoda Track with fellow students.
“We should never forget the courage and sacrifice of the original Anzacs.
“They forged a tradition and national pride that we should be honoured to follow,” she said.
Ms Meehan spoke of the Australians who 90 years ago to the day liberated the French village of Villers-Bretonneux in what is regarded as one of the most heroic battles in World War I.
Of the 1200 soldiers whose remains still rest there she said, “I ask you today, remember our fallen troops not in sadness, but with pride. May we never forget their fighting spirit but let it live on through generations to come.”
Reflecting a national trend, the Dawn Service at Yarra Junction drew a crowd of 500 people with young families and teenagers standing side by side in the early morning mist with returned service men and women and their families.
The marches in Yarra Junction and Warburton also drew record crowds – an estimated 1000 at Yarra Junction and 500 at Warburton.
Warburton RSL secretary Dennis Reeves said the community had embraced the march with members of the district’s scouting movement and primary schools taking part.
Mr Reeves said it was heartening for their veterans to see so many people taking part. The RSL would work towards holding a Dawn Service in Warburton next year as a special tribute to the district’s aging World War II veterans, he said.