WWII veteran unable to spend Anzac Day with great grandson
A Second World War veteran and his great grandson will not be able to commemorate Anzac Day together this year. To make up for it, Donald McDonald received a loving letter READ IT HERE
Townsville
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A World War II veteran and his great grandson will not be able to commemorate Anzac Day together this year.
Instead Donald McDonald and his wife Thelma will head to the front of their daughter’s Alice River property to hear their neighbours play the Last Post while his great grandson Dontay, 15, commemorates the day in Cairns.
Mr McDonald turned 97 on Sunday, receiving a heartfelt letter from Dontay for his birthday.
Mr McDonald was born in Hornsby in 1923 but later moved to Petersham.
He was 19 when he enlisted in Bathurst on March 27, 1943 and was attached with an artillery unit in Sydney, which helped shell Japanese submarines targeting ships off the NSW coast.
Mr McDonald later joined an infantry unit and fought against Japanese forces in Borneo, which had a lasting impact on his life.
His daughter, Sue Cryer, said he still took antidepressants to this day after “he saw his mate killed in front of him”.
“He won’t march (on Anzac Day), it upsets him too much,” she said.
Mrs Cryer said her father moved in with her five years ago and was the oldest Totally and Permanently Incapacitated serviceman in Queensland.
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Mr McDonald and his family will venture out to the front of the Ring Road property at 11am on Sunday, where a wheelbarrow full of handmade poppies will be placed, for a later Anzac Day service.
Mrs Cryer said a few other residents on the street were veterans too and would also head to the end of their driveways to pay their respects to all our service men and women.
“We’re all going to the front and one of our neighbours, Jason Curtis, will play The Ode with his daughter, she’s 13.
“I said we need to encourage the young ones (to get involved in Anzac Day).
“I have made heaps and heaps of Anzac biscuits.”
Dontay’s letter to his great grandfather
Dear Pop,
The amount of love and respect cannot be put into words.
You fought hard for our country during the war.
I am proud to be your great grandson and I’m lucky to still have you in my life.
Stay strong and healthy.
On this day 97 years ago, the world welcomed a legend. Happy birthday pop.
Love Dontay xxoo
Originally published as WWII veteran unable to spend Anzac Day with great grandson