Thursday, April 25, 2013

ANZAC

The Ode

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.



Did you know that 'The Ode' comes from "For the Fallen", a poem by the English poet and writer 
Laurence Binyon and was published in London in The Winnowing Fan: Poems of the Great War in 1914.  This verse, which became the Ode for the Returned and Services League, has been used in association with commemoration services in Australia since 1921.



Since my eldest son joined Scouts about 6 years ago we have been going to the dawn service.  It is a very moving and special time and I am blow away by how many people come along.  It gets bigger and bigger each year.

My son and his fellow Scouts walk up the hill from the centre of town to the R.S.L. and spend the next couple of hours serving breakfast to the soldiers and their families that feel like a 'gunshot' breakfast.  He does this with a sense of pride and gratitude for the sacrifice that these brave men and women have made for us to have the freedom that we enjoy today.  

To those who did not make it home safely, I say, thank you.

Lest we forget.

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