The Remembrance Day service holds a significance not just for our nation but in the heart of the community, Tewantin Noosa subbranch president Clinton Ware told a crowd of several hundred people gathered for the Tewantin service on Tuesday.
More than 100 RSL Sub Branches across Queensland including those in Noosa held Remembrance Day services for their local communities to come together and commemorate the service and sacrifice of our Defence personnel.
“At the 11th hour on the 11th day on the 11th month guns in 1918 guns on the western front fell silent marking the end of WWI,” Mr Ware said.
“An Armistice between the Allied forces and Germany brought an end to one of the most devastating conflicts in human history. The news was met with relief and celebration across Australia but also with solemn reflection. More than 60,000 Australian service personnel lost their lives, many more returned home carrying the physical and psychological wounds of war. Families were forever changed. Communities mourned the loss of sons, daughters, mates and loved ones.
“In the years that followed memorials rose across the country, etched with names, stories and silences built to honour those who served and to ensure their sacrifice will never be forgotten.
“In 1919 King George V called on all Commonwealth nations to observe two minutes of silence at 11am on this day each year. Australian’s gathered then as we do now united in a shared moment of reflection to remember the fallen and reaffirm our commitment to peace.”
Noosa MP Sandy Bolton also addressed the crowd.
“Together we honour those brave men who left their homes, families and all that they loved to serve our nation on distant shores,” she said.
“They faced unimaginable hardship, fear, loss and guided by duty, courage and love for their country, community and family they gave selflessly. Many never came home, creating untold grief for their loved ones and often ongoing hardships through generations, including poverty. Those who did return had changed forever carrying seen and unseen scars, deep and traumatic that impacted the rest of their lives.
“We grieve for many reasons, for the lives lost, for the futures that never came to be, for the suffering that followed so many home.
“Those we lost live forever in our hearts and minds, held in boundless respect, gratitude and love. Those who came back, their silence often spoke louder than words, fathers and grandfathers who never were able to share what they endured, who carried burdens we could not yet name. We did not understand PTSD back then, nor the ways they sought to cope. How I and so many of us wish we could reach them and tell them we really understand.
“Today we honour everyone touched by war, those who served, those who waited, those who hoped and those who cared for the wounded and grieving.
“Their sacrifices though different are all sacrifices and they have our eternal gratitude.”
Ms Bolton also acknowledged our local subbranches who “have stood as a pillar of support, preserving the memory of those who did not return, providing strength and care to those who did”.
“We need to live in a way that upholds the legacy of all, to protect the freedoms they secured for us, to cherish what they gave and to ensure those sacrifices are never forgotten nor taken for granted. Their names and deeds remain in our hearts forevermore,” she said.
