As recently as only 10 years ago Anzac Day for many people, especially the young, was simply seen as a holiday - a day off - more a day for returned soldiers to commemorate the service and sacrifices of their compatriots who died during time of war.
Back in the late 60s and early 70s Anzac services were occasionally targets for protesters angry at this country's participation in the Vietnam War.
I remember one harrowing scene from a service in Wellington where someone actually tried to burn the New Zealand flag.
It was perceived that such memorial services were commemorating war - which was way off the mark as they were clearly commemorations of the sacrifices made for freedom by so many people, many of them far too young to have lost the most important possession they had, their lives.
But one of the musical sages of that era, Bob Dylan, pretty well sums up what has since transpired through the years, particularly within the past decade - The Times They Are A-Changing. Indeed, and they are changes which bring smiles to the faces and warmth to the hearts of veterans, and of the Returned Services Association as a whole.