Hurrah Hurrah. The Parade is here!

It's 5am. I would say "don't ask" but then this would be a very short blog entry. It's ANZAC day down here, which is a big thing. Alot of people get up for the dawn service in Perth, and so did we. A very much pre dawn wake up call for all but two of us (Sam and Caitlin don't do early mornings, but that's ok as it also means they don't do huge breakfasts and parades either!) and off we went. The service takes place at the war memorial in Kings Park and there were alot of people there to pay their respects. More than that, alot of them were young people too, so, unlike the UK, the youth hasn't lost it's respect for those who died to give them the freedom's they enjoy. After the service. Breakfast. Yum. After breakfast a wander around before the parade. Yippee. I love a good parade.

It started with flags being given away by the postman. Feeling a bit patriotic (Aus was a British prison island after all) we too took flags to wave about. We had no idea what to expect and bloody hell was it different. The veterans from every conflict ANZAC troops had been in were represented, plus all the current forces that support the country including civilian ones. With bands. Lots of bands (but not enough for the whole parade so some bands had to go round twice to pad it out).

It started with some horses. Personally I think this was just an easy way to clear the crowds from the streets - I mean, would you stay in the way if one of these was charging down at you? After that came alot of people. They take pride in their armed forces which is something I think we've lost in this country but then again, their politicians don't send their troops off to fight illegal and immoral wars because a bankrupt and corrupt President from over the pond wants them too. Perhaps the people here would have more respect if the leaders of our own country had more respect for us and didn't send our forces off to die for the yankee dollar? Just a thought.

So on it went, but the best parts were, firstly, a couple of middle aged women who kept shouting 'Hello Sailor' at every group of Navy men that went past. It made the parader's crack up and they laughed, smiled and waved back. It added a really good human aspect to the whole parade. Especially when you consider that there were loads of people marching with photo's to represent family members who had died. I wasn't sure about this for quite a while but looking back it seems kind of fitting. These people did die for their country and for things they hopefully believed in; for their friends and family, so maybe it is fitting that they should be remembered still on this one day; that their sacrifice is held up by their offspring so that all can remember that the freedom and liberties we hold and abuse today were bought with the lives and blood of others.



Secondly, for me anyway, was the presence of a Triumph in the parade. Ok, so not strictly a car that has seen conflict service but I liked it anyway. Those who couldn't walk anymore were either wheeled or rode in vehicles. Soon there won't be any veterans of some of the wars and maybe, in the future, their won't be anyone who took part in a real 'conflict' left alive to parade and there will no doubt be a growing apathy or even disgust at those who "celebrate" war with parades such as this. To those, even those who are like that now, whilst there are wars and abuses rampaging across the world to this day, I say this: You are free to have your opinion and I respect that, but your freedom to have that opinion is rooted in the sacrifices made by those who disgust you and strengthened by the blood of those who fell for you. I doubt that will make you think or even if you can undertand what it means and, for that, I not only pity you but fear for any future generations influenced by you.