Talking point: Every family has a veteran

Crowds gather to mark Anzac Day in Napier. Photo / Warren Buckland

Few will not have been touched in some way by the commemorations of the past four years when we, as a nation, together with other nations all around the world, have remembered the huge sacrifices of men and women during and after World War I.

Anzac was born at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915, and further forged in the events of the next three years among the carnage of the Western Front. All fields took so many of our young men and women.

It is said that in our small nation that "Every family has a veteran" (Quote from Onward 2000 (Brian Monks). Today families are able to very easily find the names of their loved ones who served in earlier times through to today; be they great great grandparents, great grandparents, aunties and uncles, or - in the current day - their parents, brothers or sisters.

The telling title "The Guardians of Remembrance" - Kaitiaki o te Maumarahatanga, is that of the Royal NZ RSA and all RSAs in New Zealand. But given all that New Zealand has sacrificed in wars and other conflicts of which we as a nation have been a part, and today in peacekeeping and other worldwide missions, the meaning in this statement must surely be "ours", collectively. Certainly the number of our fellow citizens and their children who attend both the present day dawn services and the civic services would attest to this.

"An officer's duty to his men does not end with the cessation of hostilities": The words of Major General Sir Andrew Russell, a great son of Hawke's Bay, born in Napier, February 1868. General Russell was commander of the NZ Division on the Western front. Later, the RSA formed in 1916, was waning around 1920 and was revitalised and led from 1922 to 1935 by Sir Andrew Russell. A strong Guardian of Remembrance.

We are often asked "Why is the RSA still collecting for Poppy Day when most of the veterans from both World Wars have passed away?"

The simple answer is that since the end of World War II, New Zealand Defence Force personnel and the Police, have been, and still are, involved in many conflicts and peacekeeping duties throughout the World. Examples are The Korean and Vietnam Wars, uprisings in Malaysia, Kenya, Vanuatu & the Solomon Islands. Add to these Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and recent Naval patrols, by RNZN Frigates Te Kaha and Te Mana, to quell piracy in the Indian Ocean.

Our personnel also serve in UN peacekeeping teams and deployments include the Korean Peninsula, The Balkans, East Timor, Bougainville and Sudan to name a few. These young men and women are defending our freedom but as time progresses and they return to civilian life, the scars will show and ongoing support will need to be available.

The theme for New Zealand's 96th Poppy Day on Friday, April 20, is "Not All Wounds Bleed".

And with the knowledge that we now have in regard to the various trauma that happens, and often so insidiously, those who serve are harmed in a way that can to often not be seen. In the past this was often known as "a nervous breakdown", and a significant number of those who returned did suffer from "breakdowns" of one sort or another. Today we know this to be Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

This is the final year of a four-year period of local, regional, national and international commemoration around World War I. On Armistice Day at 11am, on the 11th day of the 11th month - November 1918 "all went frighteningly quiet". Yes, we will always remember the 1914 – 1918 War because it happened so early in our small nation's history. The cost of the sacrifice to us all even today is felt so very much.

It is rightly said that the cost in lives and carnage would have been much greater without the wonderful care, service and foregoing the danger that they put themselves in - The Red Cross - who at that time were just a fledgling organisation but did (and still does) amazing work.

Citizens of all ages, are warmly welcomed to join in and march with the veterans this Anzac Day and might like to wear medals earned by your family members. Please look for your local area services and commemorations, times and the places, in local media so that you can be a proud "Guardian of Remembrance", too.

• Ron Rowe served in the Royal NZ Navy as a Gunnery & Missile Instructor and is an Executive member of the Napier RSA.