Shalom

anzac day 2008

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Lest we forget.

from the poem by Laurence Binyon, 1914.

sorry

Today may well be the beginning of a new way forward in Australia. Today, the Prime Minister offered an apology for the treatment given in the past to Aborigines by the government. It was an apology refused by the previous government for many years who seemed to equate "sorry" with "compensation." It was apology and recognition of mistakes made, particularly in the removal of children from their parents. What could possibly compensate either parent or child for that evil?

There is so much I could say and I'm sure there were many who truly felt that they were acting for the good of such children. However, there were others who saw this as an opportunity to annihilate aboriginal languages and culture and to cause interracial marriages to weaken bloodlines. That discussion does not belong to today in my eyes.

I am truly glad to see this apology. I remember seeing the word "sorry" written by a skywriter after the Walk for Reconciliation across the Harbour Bridge some years ago. It caused a shiver of excitement and a huge cheer among the many thousands at Darling Harbour.

Reconciliation and moving forward will not be easy. Someone I know remarked that today grace had passed over our Parliament. Much grace from all of us will be required as hopefully together we live in this land as fellows.

anzac day

Another year has passed and still the crowds increase at Anzac Day gatherings around the country.

In Sydney, 4000 people gathered at the Cenotaph in Martin Place for the Dawn Service, the traditional start to the day. They were there by 3:30 am and stood in pouring rain for the service. Many then took part in the march later on, a long march lasting over three hours. Again undeterred by the rain, there were crowds watching the march with young children waving flags.

Brass and pipe bands make me cry and this was so again. I'm fairly cynical often, but these bands affect me everytime. Some of them marched around the route several times in the rain because there were not enough bands in total to have them each play once.

The tears were started by the sight of the riderless horse, stirrups reversed and cavalry boots in the stirrups, being led through the wet streets at the head of the procession.

More info on Anzac Day here.

I was going to post a recording of the Last Post beautifully played by a NZ bugler. However, I've heard it so many times today and it has made me cry each time. Here is a different song and video, Australian Heroes.

Here is a link to a page explaining traditions at military funerals. Scroll down to paragraph under the picture of the horse for an explanation of the riderless horse and the reversed stirrups. The page also mentions the custom of reversed rifles dragging in the dust which I saw in another procession yesterday