By Casey Neill
“It’s symbolic of what’s gone on here in the last 10 years and that’s a resilient community rebuilding, rising out of the ashes.”
The Australian flag that was flying at Marysville Police Station during the 2009 bushfires was returned to the rebuilt site on Friday 1 February.
“It’s a celebration that the flag’s coming back here,” Benalla Senior Sergeant Mark Hesse said.
“I’ve got a couple of boys working here that were here on Black Saturday and they’re over the moon, they’re just rapt to have it back.”
Then-Officer in Charge Sergeant Kevin Graham found the burnt flag after fire tore through the station and handed it to the Victoria Police Museum in Melbourne.
The team there used special techniques to remove ash and foreign particles from the flag and preserve it.
“Sunday morning, the place is in ruins – so much devastation, so much heartache, so much grief, and Kevin’s lost the police residence and the police station,” Sen Sgt Hesse said.
“Everything he owns is gone.
“The only thing he finds in the ashes is the flag.”
He said other events to mark the fires around the 7 February anniversary wouldn’t be celebrations like that for the flag’s return.
“There’s a hell of a hot of heartache,” he said.
“There’s a lot of people who don’t want to know about it and don’t want a bar of it.
“That’s human nature.”
Sen Sgt Hesse urged people to mark the milestone in the way they wanted to.
“People have a lot to reflect on and a lot to remember,” he said.
“Similar to like an Anzac Day, you’ve got to strike it up, you’ve got to remember.
“Lest we forget, no greater words were ever spoken.”
The flag is now in a custom-made case on display to the public in the Marysville Police Station foyer.
The event to mark the flag’s return included a formal ceremony with a full police escort, police horses and shrine guards.
A lone piper played Amazing Grace and a formal march off officially retired the former Marysville flag.
“As part of our rebuilding process, Marysville police officers have requested the flag be returned to its original home,” Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said
“Today’s event is a time for everyone present to reflect on how the fires changed the lives of so many and how our communities have rebuilt.”
