This article was originally published in print in the Swan Hill Guardian on May 3, 2019.
LAST year may have been the 100th anniversary since World War One ended, but this year commemorating our soldiers is just as important.
I have been privileged enough to interview a few war veterans, including those who have fought not just in World War One and Two, but also the Vietnam War and in East Timor.
I am always fascinated by the stories they have to tell, whether it comes from the soldier themselves, or their family members reminiscing on the heroic efforts of their descendants.
Admittedly, I probably don’t know as much about the wars Australian soldiers fought in, but its something I have been interested in learning more about.
The World Wars is definitely something I am keen to brush up on, but I just never know what part of the war history to start off with.
I will be happy to take suggestions of great books or online sources from The Guardian readers to get me going.
But, it is important for anyone and everyone to be aware of what their forebearers did for their country that makes Australia what it is today.
It is absolutely fantastic that school students across this district, and all around the country, are still being educated, and taking an interest, in learning about the conflicts.
With World War One and Two veterans dying, with their passing goes the stories of hardships on the battlefields and images of traumatic experiences those soldiers never forgot.
According to an article published in the UK’s The Daily Telegraph, the woman believed to be the last surviving veteran of World War One veteran died in 2012.
Florence Beatrice Green died in her sleep two weeks shy of her 111th birthday.
She joined the Women’s Royal Air Force in September 1918 aged 17, during which time she worked as an Officer’s Mess steward, just months before the war ended.
In Australia, according to an article published in The Age in 2009, Bendigo man John Campbell Ross was Australia’s last World War One veteran who died at 110.
Mr Ross was 18 in 1918 when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in January, going through training before he was posted to the 1st Battalion at Broadmeadows camp in Victoria.
But the war ended before he was able to be be posted overseas.
He also served in World War Two as a volunteer defence corps, and at the time of his death in 2009 was Australia’s oldest living man.
With their deaths, disappeared the last living reminders of a time when the whole world was at arms against one another.
But with education, the erection of memorials, and celebrating the lives of the Australian soldiers through commemoration days such as Anzac Day in April and Remembrance Day in November.
A great source of information to visit that’s close by to Swan Hill (well, sort of) is the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne.
Not only is there a huge memorial there and an eternal flame, but an underground maze of a museum with statues, war artefacts and a display cabinet of medals.
I’ve always wanted to attend one of the dawn services at this location, but never gotten around to doing it.
Tens of thousands of people usually gather each year on the special days, and I feel like I should in the next couple of years.
Lillian Altman 