ANZAC Day 2008

[vlv8vic]

i think it is a shame that more and more australians are seeing this day as just a public holiday. the real meaning of it seems to have disappeared.

lest we forget.. remember those who gave their lives so we could live the way we do today

I'm of the opposite thought. Even with rain forecast it was a bigger turnout that other years at the dawn service here.

Minux, with reference to the term dig or digger, i can't say much as i've not served but i have heard different versions of that from many of grandpa's old crew (WWII). Some suggest that the diggers themselves should be the only ones that use the term. Others have said they are appreciative that people use the term with so much respect.
Like anything else, it'll depend on who you talk to and where they are.

 

[Reaper]

Could not agree more, we were lucky enough as children to get to see Gallipoli before it was invaded by drunk yobbo's. Even at 15 the place was humbling, it is an experience I will never forget. A few of us are planning on the kokoda experience for next year, I really hope we can get it organised in time.

Kokoda is one thing that is on my "To do" list. I have been to the Bridge over the river Kwai and seen the camps POW camps near by. I suspect Kokoda is something that everybody who wants to should do soon before it is destroyed for good :cry:

Reaper

 

[CSP]

Having served in the Air Force and have a sister that has served in the Navy, I am not sure about the whole "digger" thing. I wouldn't consider anyone that has NOT served on an infantry front line as a digger.

The term comes from the infantry that dug the trenches ffs!! Noone I served with refers to themselves or anyone else as a digger.

 

[vlv8vic]

Having served in the Air Force and have a sister that has served in the Navy, I am not sure about the whole "digger" thing. I wouldn't consider anyone that has NOT served on an infantry front line as a digger.

The term comes from the infantry that dug the trenches ffs!! Noone I served with refers to themselves or anyone else as a digger.

I agree with that completely. I'm not sure now if i read Minux's post correctly. I read it as people shouldn't be able to use the term digger if they weren't part of the club (you know like how only coloured people can call themselves nigger but whites can't call them nigger)... bad comparison but for lack of a better example!

I only consider those you speak of as the true diggers. I certainly mean no disrespect to anyone else who has served but like you say they have the name for a reason.

 

[minux]

Having served in the Air Force and have a sister that has served in the Navy, I am not sure about the whole "digger" thing. I wouldn't consider anyone that has NOT served on an infantry front line as a digger.

The term comes from the infantry that dug the trenches ffs!! Noone I served with refers to themselves or anyone else as a digger.

The problem I have with it is every pogo and his lap dog decide they deserve to earn it for sitting on their fat arses in the Q Store. I served on the front line, granted it was no Gallipoli(thank my lucky stars there) but I did see quite a bit of service with 3 in East Timor in 99.

My whole issue with using the term "digger" is that infantry units have an ethic on how it is used and a tradition so to speak. I just get so annoyed when i see cut lunch commando's and pogo Q Store fat arses using it like it is just another "army" word.

 

[minux]

I agree with that completely. I'm not sure now if i read Minux's post correctly. I read it as people shouldn't be able to use the term digger if they weren't part of the club (you know like how only coloured people can call themselves nigger but whites can't call them nigger)... bad comparison but for lack of a better example!

That is how I worded, if you were not part of the club or part of the long standing tradition it should NOT be used. I see it as disrespectful. Watching the news through parts of the day made me so angry because every person including women were classed as "diggers". I guess you need to be a part of a unit with long traditions etc to understand where I am coming at with it.

 

[vlv8vic]

So could i refer to the old blokes who were on the front line in WW1 as diggers? granted it is only your opinion but i don't see how it could be disrespectful.

EDIT: thought about my wording a bit. I feel it would be disrespectful for me to walk up to a digger and say "gday digger" whereas i can't see how it is offensive or disrespectful to use the term collectively. "the diggers were a friendly bunch".
I don't consider anyone other than the original diggers as the ANZAC 'digger'.

 

[Fekason]

Marched yesterday for the first time in years.

I had not marched for over ten years because the units with which I had been associated were not locally represented. Ah, the consequences of the endless re-organizations.

However, after a number of years "outside". I have been convinced into rejoining the reserves. So I marched with the reserves in Sydney.

I was having a chat with a currently serving medical officer before the parade, who had a chestful of medals. Her reaction to seeing the WW2 returned soldiers with around four medals was almost embarassment because, "I did nothing compared to what they did or went through". That sums it up well. They went to hell, and back if they were lucky, so that we could be free.

It was an honour to march yesterday in remembrance of those who paid the supreme sacrifice, and to pay respect to those who did so much but survived. At times like Anzac Day and Remembrance Day, I humbly ask myself, "Am I worth dying for?" That fact that I fall short of the Anzac ideals just emphasises how much I and my family owe to them.

Lest we forget.

 

[nicko]

I took my nanna to the dawn service this year and was so proud when she asked me to wear her husbands, my grandee's, medals. No matter how many times i hear the poems, sings the hymes or listen to the last post, i always find a tear in my eye. Words can't express the gratitude i have for the fallen, who gave it all so we could be free.

Lest We Forget

 

[vr_executive]

Lest We Forget,