We come together around Tasmania to remember the fallen and their sacrifice

THEY came to remember the fallen, pay respect for their service and sacrifice and to hope we learn from the mistakes of the past.

Yesterday’s Remembrance Day ceremony at the Cenotaph, Hobart, Tasmania. Picture: MATT THOMPSON.

THEY came to remember the fallen, pay respect for their service and sacrifice and to hope we learn from the mistakes of the past.

Young, old, veterans, current servicemen and women, families and friends — they all descended upon the Hobart Cenotaph to pause to remember when the clock struck 11am.

REMEMBRANCE DAY PHOTO GALLERY

Governor Kate Warner said in an increasingly volatile world, it was important to heed the lessons of the past. “The reflective meaning of this service is well known to us all,” Prof. Warner said.

Tasmanian Governor, Kate Warner speaks at the Remembrance Day ceremony on the Cenotaph in Hobart. Picture: MATT THOMPSON.

“It is that we come together formally to remember the sacrifices made by our fellow Australians during times of conflict.

“The message of this service should be a lesson to us all. It is that we have to do all we can to prevent our world from entering a 21st century global conflict ...”

Referencing Paul Keating, she said that “commemorating these events should make us even more wary of grand ambitions and grand alliances of the kind that fractured Europe and darkened the 20th century. War should be the last resort, we are surely wise enough now to heed the lessons of those two World Wars.”

Philip Nichols, an APC driver in Vietnam during his stint in the army from 1969 to 1971, said he was pleased at the level of support days such as Remembrance Day received from the community.

“I always make sure I come along and pay my respects,” he said.

Also paying their respects were William and Brenda Hodge, at their second Remembrance Day ceremony since their son Edward William Hodge — an officer in the Australian navy — died at the age of 28.

“We go to every event he would have gone to,” William said.

“It is a day that brings up a lot of feeling for us.”

Servicemen and women in need of support can contact their local ADF Health Centre, while veterans and their families can contact the Veterans and Veterans’ Families Counselling Service on 1800 001 046.

Originally published as We come together around Tasmania to remember the fallen and their sacrifice