HONOURING THE MEMORY OF THOSE WHO SERVED
THEY are the custodians to Australia’s wartime history. Lounge rooms and aged care facilities throughout the region are home to an incredible band of locals who have stood up for our country across various conflicts and foreign borders.
Their numbers may be thinning but their memories remain sharp and precise. And we can never stop learning from the ordeals that they experienced first-hand.
As our region prepares to honour another Anzac Day, today’s Geelong Advertiser profiles a mere few of the veterans who have represented our country during wartime.
From prisoner of war camps in the Pacific, to tours of duty in Korea and the Middle East, Frank, Jan, Laurie and John represent the thousands of locals who signed up to fight for their country during times of great conflict over the past century.
Their experiences vary greatly but the truism of their strength and bravery is a constant. And the stories they harbour would not look out of place in any Hollywood movie.
For instance there is Highton’s Jan Morgan, whose tasks deciphering morse code included the urgent signal that Darwin had been bombed, as well as messages from US General Douglas McArthur.
Or there is Whittington’s Frank Hayes, who served in New Guinea and whose cousin was beheaded as a prisoner of war in Changi the day before the ceasefire.
Laurie Price, a RAAF veteran of the Korean conflict, followed a family tradition that began when his father Bill served in the light horse at Gallipoli and followed his siblings into service during World War II.
And John Delia, a veteran of more recent conflicts in East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan, will stand up for all local veterans when he delivers the keynote address at the conclusion of this year’s Geelong Anzac Day march.
Between them, this quartet represents Australia’s modern history of combat, as well as the many men and women to whom we owe so much today.
While the opportunities to honour our veterans will again be hampered by COVID restrictions this Anzac Day, it will be heartening to see the gradual return of gatherings across the region where people of all ages can show their gratitude for those who fought for them and their respect for the many who fell in battle.
The tradition of the dawn service, veterans’ march and local war memorial gathering is a mainstay of our young country’s culture and was sorely missed amid the pandemic last year. Restrictions may keep many from attending again this year, but this weekend we should all take the time to reflect and find our own way to show our thanks to those who fought for our freedom.