ANZAC Day
Monday, April 25, 2005
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
- fourth stanza of the Ode (For the Fallen)
Jonathon E. reminds me that today is ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand.
ANZAC is the acronym for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, the formation created in December 1914 by grouping the Australian Imperial Force and New Zealand Expeditionary Force. I believe the last time there was an ANZAC force in combat was Viet Nam.
Our friends in Australia and New Zealand remember their fallen warriors on April 25th. Commemorative services are held at dawn which was the time of the Gallipoli Landing - the first engagement of the Australian and New Zealand forces (sort of a "Stand To") . And solumn ceremonies start with veterans marching to their memorials (local or otherwise), laying wreaths, recitations of the Ode, and a lot of other traditional ceremonies and activities.