By Alex Crowe
As the crowd paused for a moment of silence during the Anzac Day dawn service at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance, RAAF veteran Brett West said his thoughts turned to the families of the servicemen and women.
“The wives, the children, the grandparents – friends and family of all kinds who provide that support structure – they honestly do it as hard, if not harder, than us that go away,” West said.
RAAF veteran Brett West was among the service personnel who led Melbourne’s Anzac Day march.Credit: Joe Armao
As part of this year’s peacekeeping theme, the 70,000 people who took part in non-wartime missions for Australia were honoured throughout the ceremony at the Shrine.
West, an Indigenous Australian who served as a weapons engineer and explosives specialist in the RAAF, said peacekeepers had been among the forgotten service personnel.
“It’s incredible work that peacekeepers do,” he said. “It’s not just what they do for Australia. It’s ensuring people abroad are looked after, that they can live their lives as they wish.”
For the first time, peacekeeping personnel led the procession through Melbourne’s streets on Thursday. West, whose service included deployments to Afghanistan and East Timor, was among them.
A Yamatji man, he said it had taken him a while to have the confidence to wear his medals and attend dawn services.
“I would love to give every Aboriginal person that’s actually served the confidence to be proud and wear their medals and come out,” he said.
More than 40,000 people gathered at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne for the dawn service.Credit: Joe Armao
Thousands of Victorians gathered at Anzac Day services around the state to commemorate the sacrifices of past and present servicemen and women.
In Melbourne, Bunurong elder Mark Brown welcomed 40,000 Victorians who woke up before daylight to pay their respects to current and past service personnel at the Shrine of Remembrance dawn service.
“As we gather here today, we recognise that our people are one – all of our ancestors and all of the people that we lost, and all of the people that gather here today,” he said.
“We recognise this with a welcome to Country.“
RSL Victoria president Robert Webster delivered the Ode of Remembrance before a lone bugler played the Last Post on the steps of the Shrine.
The navy band joined the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus to perform Abide By Me as dawn broke over Melbourne.
“Many times against their training, our peacekeepers could not fight back, and this brought its own trauma, as they witnessed human beings at their worst,” Webster said.
“Their enemies weren’t always clear, and their allies weren’t always reliable.”
Victorian Governor Margaret Gardner extended the commendation of Australia’s peacekeepers as she addressed the crowd.
“Every war inflicts untold suffering on the men and women who are called upon through the service in these conflicts to do the extraordinary,” she said.
“Their sacrifices raise a question impossible to answer. How many lives were saved as a result of their impossible sacrifice?
“I have no doubt that those who have served in peacetime and in war have saved an untold number of lives.”
From left: Henry and Claire Cooper attended the Anzac Day dawn service with John and Jane Anderson.Credit: Joe Armao
Jane Anderson, the mother of past and current servicemen, said the atmosphere at the dawn service was special.
“It’s an emotional time. It’s a moment when we’re all thinking about what these people have been through, and it can be tough on them and tough on the families when they’re apart,” she said.
Anderson’s sons both served in the Middle East. She said she had been both proud and concerned during their deployments.
“We’ve done the filling of boxes and home-baked brownies that get passed around to all the guys,” she said.
“It’s a mix between worrying and pride.”
Her husband, John Anderson, said he was commemorating all First Nations people who served, including two uncles who served in Vietnam.
Anderson said that by including First Nations people in Anzac Day ceremonies, the RSL had contributed to equal recognition of their service.
“But there is still a way to go,” he said.
Active army, air force and navy personnel, government officials and veterans who fought in historic conflicts marched through Melbourne’s city streets towards the Shrine.
Among the parade’s more than 10,000 participants were veterans from Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, East Timor and the Solomon Islands.
Betty Quee, 87, took part in the march while carrying a photo of her late husband, Brian Quee. Her son James Quee (pictured) attended the ceremony with her.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Betty Quee, 87, travelled to Melbourne from Lockhart, NSW, with her son James Quee, to take part in the parade for the first time.
Betty held a picture of her late husband, Brian Quee, who served in the Australian Defence Force for 27 years.
She said participating alongside three of her children to honour her husband of more than 50 years had been emotional.
“It was more than what I expected,” she said. “The crowd cheered and waved – it was something extraordinary.”
Brian Quee was a member of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam and landed in South Vietnam in August 1962 as one of the first Australians sent to the country during the war.
James said his mother “did it pretty tough” back home during his father’s long period of service there.
“You’re seeing the appreciation that other people have, the clapping and cheering,” he said. “I thought, ‘She deserves this.’ ”
Marchers in Melbourne on Thursday.Credit: Chris Hopkins
James said his father died 11 years ago and had battled post-traumatic stress.
“Anzac Day is a huge emotional day for us. I still get very choked up when I’m talking about dad,” he said.
“I’m so proud of his achievements and what he accomplished in the army.”
Across the state, Victorians attended dozens of local services and events in suburbs and towns. More than 8000 people attended a dawn service in Torquay and 5500 in Wodonga.
Shrine of Remembrance chief executive Dean Lee said the community’s commitment to honouring those who defended Australia’s way of life was overwhelming.
With AAP
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