War and peace ‘not a spectator sport’
People gathered on Anzac Day not to glorify war but to remember service personnel and civilians who suffered and continue to suffer, says Motueka RSA president Kyle Abbott.
At a dawn service beside the war memorial in Motueka, Abbott told hundreds of attendees that those on active service were remembered in particular.
‘‘The Boer War, World War I, World War II ... Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, East Timor, Borneo, Malaya – the list goes on,’’ he said.
‘‘And just pay a thought for all the current New Zealanders who have just travelled overseas to Europe to do what they can to assist what is happening in Ukraine at the moment.’’
Motueka High School head students Jade Sundbye and Lucy Summerfield acknowledged the service and sacrifice of the 74 people whose names had been engraved on the memorial.
In Nelson, more than 80 people attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the Boer War Memorial in Queens Gardens – a number Nelson RSA member Brian Ramsay described as ‘‘amazing’’.
Previously, just two or three people would gather. ‘‘So this is really great,’’ he told the crowd.
Ramsay said it was planned to also remember those who served in the Boer War, between 1899 and 1902, at a separate service each year, the first of which was held last year.
‘‘These 13 guys – and all their mates who went away and came back – will be remembered every year now.’’
At the RSA commemoration and service at Christ Church Cathedral in Nelson, keynote speaker Major General John Howard said it was important to him, ‘‘after nearly four decades in the service of our nation, that we should be able to tell our story’’.
Each Anzac Day, ‘‘we renew our commitment to not forgetting those that served our nation’’, he said.
‘‘So many did not return home and many that returned home, returned home forever changed.’’
In recent weeks, the world had been reminded of the brutal reality of war via the ‘‘shocking images’’ and ‘‘unbridled destruction’’ in Ukraine.
The challenge remained not to promote war but to preserve peace.
‘‘But I warn you: This is not a spectator sport,’’ Howard said.