“Don’t think I’m getting out of bed at this time of the morning to glorify war.”
“It’s got nothing to do with glorifying war.”
“Please yourself, but if you must go you can go alone.”
Is that how our men went to war?
Alone without the love and support of their loved ones; without prayers and hope of a safe return?
And when we share a dawn, with their memory, is it to glorify war?
Of course not. That’s a sad argument heard too often, in support of the creature comforts of those who can’t be bothered.
One by one, they went to foreign shores
together, they faced the stench of war
many suffered from their toil
many fell, and lie buried in foreign soil
they are our fallen, our spiritual whanau
the one morning a year, we offer them now
OUR recognition and reflection is little to compare
with the burden they were required to bear.
There is also a uniqueness about this Pacific Star. New Zealand rose above those years of war. When the Great War ended we made our peace with Turkey. That may have been only with the blessing of their Ataturk, but it is not something our Anzac ally, or even Mother England could do at time.
To our credit almost a century later, we have not become too complacent, and have not forgotten those, who through great courage and determination placed this opportunity at our feet, nor should we ever become too arrogant and ungrateful to show our respect for their eternal gift.
Writer of Sorts 