Time to pay homage

By Paul Dunlop
PAKENHAM Returned Services League president Norm Joseph wants people this Anzac Day to stop and remember the sacrifice of soldiers who gave their lives.
Mr Joseph, a World War II veteran, said the commemoration of 25 April was not to glorify war, but to honour those affected by it.
Pakenham will also mark the event with a commemoration at the Uniting Church at 9.30 am this Sunday before the dawn service at 6 am next Wednesday.
Mr Joseph said Anzac Day at the cenotaph, on the corner of James and Henry streets , would see a moving service.
“All residents are encouraged to attend for the short address and sounding of the Last Post, then join the veterans for a gunfire breakfast at the Pakenham Hall prepared and served by Rotary, assisted by the RSL ladies auxiliary,” he said.
“There will be many opportunities for all of us to reflect and remember, to pay our respects to those who suffered and passed on, and to those who may still carry the scars.
Mr Joseph said millions of words had been written and spoken about those who helped create a young nation’s sense of self with their blood on the beaches at Gallipoli.
“Anzac Day marks the day Australia savagely and tragically came of age,” he said. “At dawn on 25 April, 1915, 12,000 men stormed ashore onto a small beach no more than 300 yards wide, running up to cliffs 400 feet high with only two ridges forming gullies. The only way off the beach was up those gullies or the cliffs.
“By midday, 1500 lay dead and many more wounded from the heavy rifle, machine gun, mortar and artillery fire that rained down upon them. Eight bloody months later, the Gallipoli campaign was called off,” Mr Joseph said.
“In those eight months, there were 27,329 Australian casualties — 7818 killed, 19,441 wounded and 70 taken prisoner.”
With the last of the survivors of the Anzac tragedy of World War I now passed on, Mr Joseph said the challenge had been thrown to all future Australians not to bow down whenever the country’s freedoms were threatened.
“This has been accepted, and the spirit of Anzac lives on,” he said.
Mr Joseph said that as residents attended memorial services today, they might also take the opportunity to commit to maintaining the spirit of those who fought and died.
“If we resolve to live lives of service and respect to others, friendship and courage, our acts will have even more value and lasting outcomes,” he said.
“This Anzac Day, the RSL seeks to reach out to younger people, especially the students of our schools and colleges and to welcome younger servicemen and women from more recent conflicts into the league.”