Tales of war

Stories of war and peace must be told to remind future generations of our freedom

Anzac Day is a time to share stories of those who fought and died in the horrors of war. They are harrowing and painful memories for some, but they must be told.

The stories of war are what remind the generations to come about the freedom Australia has and how we got here.

Those stories include that of Francis Tapim’s father, Mal Pal, who fought for Australia in the first and only Torres Straight Light Infantry Battalion even though he was not considered a citizen.

“He was only 16 and at that time we weren’t recognised as Australian citizens so it’s very significant for me because he still volunteered his service to go and defend his country for us,” Mr Tapim said.

Mr Pal was one of the soldiers in Papua New Guinea that helped stop the Japanese making it to Australia and the Torres Strait.

In another story, told to Townsville Bulletin journalists on Anzac Day,

North Queensland

Sappers Association branch president Tony Kealley talked of the key role the ‘tunnel rats’ played in previous wars and in war to come.

“They’re always the first ones in and the last ones out,” he said.

Some of our veterans, like Ernie Gimm who served in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, reminisced on the mates he had lost.

“I remember them while I’m marching,” he said.

For Lieutenant (retd.) Bill Wight, it is also about remembering his friends who never returned from war.

He was part of the first intake of national service for Vietnam, and remembers the anti-war protests when he returned home.

Mr Wight took off in his silver Datsun and drove from his home in Melbourne to Cooktown and Darwin: “I also found that in the country, I was very well received. It was only in the cities where the protests were occurring.”

It is the stories of the brave men and women who fought that we must remember for centuries to come.