Heather Roy's Diary

ANZAC Article for Heather Roy's Diary

Lt Col (Retd) Simon Ewing-Jarvie

It's a great honour to provide a column for Heather's diary while she is undergoing basic recruit training at Waiouru.

For many years we have commemorated ANZAC Day. But when we gather in remembrance or repeat the line 'lest we forget' what do we remember? Why Dawn?

Dawn is such an evocative time. For servicemen and women, it is a time rich in nostalgia. Dawn stand-to, lying on cold ground behind a rifle or machine gun occasionally catching a glimpse of your own unit's clearing patrols moving around the perimeter. Seeing the sun's first rays from your post on a ship or your aircraft cockpit. Having your parachute equipment checked one last time. Climbing down cargo nets from a warship into landing craft in a heavy sea. Seeing the New Zealand flag slide up the mast.

There is no doubt that every nation owes a tremendous debt to those that are prepared to fight for freedom. While it has become popular in some circles to write books about why people signed up for the two world wars - an adventure with the mates or to escape a boring or unsatisfactory home life - little thought is given to the fact that the reason is surpassed by reality on day 1. Service life is inherently dangerous, even in training. Most operational environments are extremely uncomfortable to just exist in. Heat, cold, bad water, animals, insects and rashes that don't go away with a good dettol scrubbing are all part of the deal. But the human mind is incredibly resilient. We quickly forget the privations, the terror and the sadness and our minds readily focus on the humour, the practical jokes and the characters we knew. Sometimes, perhaps in a private moment, we surprise ourselves by shedding a tear for no apparent reason. The Last Post or a lament played on the pipes might be all it takes to release pent up emotion.

Is military action what shaped us as a nation? I think it is too early to tell. Also too early to assess is the meaning of the increased turnouts to ANZAC Day parades. I think there is a multitude of reasons why numbers are increasing. However, I don't see evidence of this shaping our nation. What I do see is charitable groups and service organisations struggling to find and retain willing volunteers. People are often more prepared to pay than to serve. The concept of 'what your time is worth' is king. Veterans know, when you are walking, carrying a wounded mate and both sets of gear…time is not king…you just put one foot in front of the other for as long as it takes to get where you are going. But our beautiful, intelligent and talented offspring are being swept along in a wave of individualism, passing up the option of the greater good and therefore ignoring the most important lesson that we thought we bought back from our experience…service before self. Heroes today are sports stars, rock musicians and entrepreneurs. Short performance individuals not the low profile grafters and toilers who keep the world going.

So there is no doubt in my mind that our greatest challenge is still ahead of us. We know that it is simply not realistic for our younger generations to learn the formative lessons of life in a war zone. But the oft-touted concept of military service shaping the nation is irrelevant if we don't find some means of imbuing our young people with the ethos of service. We will not do that by living in the past; by seeking a return to the good old days. We will not draw them to us by rubbishing their music or their clothes. Neither will we do it by racism, sexism or inflexibility in our own thinking.

Different governments buy more or less new military hardware. Or they emphasise pay and conditions for servicepeople. Or they develop and destroy alliances. Service personnel just get on with it regardless, working together to achieve what is necessary. The hairs on my neck stand up when I visit Pa sites, or the old US Marine base at McKay's Crossing or the multitude of closed facilities like RNZAF Base Levin. I sense the old warriors there shaking their heads sadly and saying, "Has this country learned nothing?" A lot has been said about defence expenditure over the years. But we know not to mistake spending on hardware with capability. Capability is not about hardware but about coherent policy, strong alliances and most of all, us - he tangata, he tangata, he tangata: the people.

The Defence Force is struggling more than ever before to attract and retain staff. Why? As Frankl said, "without meaning, effort and struggle have no purpose." The Territorial Force and Naval Reserve, society's main link with the forces, have been all but destroyed largely through intransigence. Some ignore or insult our traditional allies and present that as stamping our national individuality on the world. Some kid themselves that getting rid of links to the Crown and Union Jack will somehow define us better as a nation. These changes may come to pass but they will not be the path to national individuality, only a reflection of it after the event. If we have one major piece of unfinished business to perform in memory of those who have fallen, it is to stand firm every day against attacks on freedom, whether they come at the end of a gun or in more subtle forms of coercion.

We cannot legislate freedom any more easily than we can pass laws that demand people to be tolerant. But we can demand that our lawmakers remove the barriers to freedom. Each and every one of us has a duty passed on from those who have served the country to demonstrate tolerance and respect for freedom. With that comes the responsibility to take action against those who would try to take our freedom away. You might think that you can't do anything much. But your life is your message to the world. "Making yourself small just so others around you feel comfortable does not serve the world."

So stand up and be counted!

ENDS

© Scoop Media