Anzac spirit shines through
Heavy rain and heightened security concerns didn’t stop tens of thousands from attending Anzac Day services in the nation’s capital. Almost 40,000 people gathered outside the Australian War Memorial for the dawn service in Canberra. In a first, indigenous service men and women were invited to lead the Anzac parade march.
HEAVY rain and heightened security concerns didn’t stop tens of thousands from attending Anzac Day services in the nation’s capital.
Almost 40,000 people gathered in the cold outside the Australian War Memorial for the dawn service in Canberra.
Security was beefed up amid concerns about a London-style vehicle attack with concrete barricades used for the first time.
But the service went ahead without incident.
This year’s national service saw a major first for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island veterans.
Indigenous servicemen and women were invited to lead the Anzac parade march for the first time ever.
Squadron leader Gary Oakley, a member of the Gundungurra tribe from the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales who led the group, told News Corp it was “an important step towards recognition and reconciliation”.
Mr Oakley said indigenous Australians had been fighting for the country for more than a hundred years and he was proud the public was now more aware of their service.
Afghanistan veteran Curtis McGrath, who lost both legs in a roadside explosion in 2012 before going on to win gold at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in the KL2 para-canoe event, delivered the address with a focus on mateship and the tradition of the “dust off”.
The 29-year-old combat engineer recalled the moment his mates gathered around him when he lost both his legs in an improvised explosion in Afghanistan.
“In a violent, hot explosion, the ground beneath me erupted, taking both my legs instantly,” he said.
“Somehow, in a state of bewilderment and physical wreckage, bizarre moments of clarity and focus took hold.
“I found myself trying to do my own first aid and instructing the men on how to administer the morphine.
“Meanwhile, my mates wrestled with tourniquets on what was left of my legs as they swallowed their own terror and tears.”
He said he joined the army through a sense of duty, and called on Australia to take care of those who return from conflicts.
“May we, as a nation, continue to provide those men and women who have served us with the care they need.”
Acting Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce represented the Government at the service and later met veterans for a traditional game of Two Up, legal only on Anzac Day.