Blog Tools
Edit your Blog
Build a Blog
View Profile
« April 2008 »
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30
You are not logged in. Log in
Entries by Topic
All topics  «
Dooley Noted
Friday, 25 April 2008
Happy ANZAC Day
Mood:  party time!

Happy ANZAC Day to all.  Now. let me explain.

ANZAC stands for Australia New Zealand Armed Corps.  As a day, it celebrates the Aussies and Ziwis landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, thus entering World War I.  It also celebrates all Aussie and Ziwi soldiers of the past and present.  As such, it is the American equivalent of Memorial Day and Veteran's Day rolled into one.

It is a National holiday.

We celebrated ANZAC Day in the traditional Canberran way.  We attended the Sunrise Service held at the Australian War Memorial.  The service was held at 5:30a, which is at the same time that the ANZAC Brigade landed in Gallipoli.  After the service, members of the Aussie and Ziwi Defence Forces walk in a parade around their cities. 

The whole event is televised and dominates radio shows.  The Australian public (and presumably the Ziwis) have a strong attachment to their Defence Forces, and so their is a tremendous outpouring of support.  We have heard several times today that the ANZAC landing in Gallipoli was the point that Australia became a Nation, not just the independent country that it had been. 

What's cool is that the original ANZAC Bde was relatively small.  While we are sitting here watching the parade in Sydney on TV, the commentators are telling the human-interest stories about the individual soldiers that made up the Brigade, talking about which ones are still alive, and showing family members in attendance.

We attended this morning's service with Peter, who showed up to the event with Australian flags for both Kimberly and I to wave all morning.  He had one for Jacoby, too, but he chose to sleep in.  While I didn't wear my uniform (I didn't think it was appropriate), I did wear my U.S. Army racing jacket (NASCAR) proudly.

The plan is to go to the War Memorial later today and walk through the museum, which has a few different exhibits since the last time we were there. 

Enjoy your day!

 


Posted by kisajaja at 1:05 AM MEST
Updated: Sunday, 4 May 2008 11:36 AM MEST
Post Comment | Permalink

View Latest Entries