Jonny Wilkinson: Anzac Day 2021 reminds of disability support progress

Anzac Day is a time of collective reflection when we can share sorrow at the loss of so many lives in war. Photo / File

A DIFFERENT LIGHT

It's Anzac weekend. Another prized long weekend. Last year the Anzac commemorations were reduced to people standing outside their houses at dawn to pay homage to fallen soldiers in their isolated Covid-19 bubbles. This year it will be back to normal, with public dawn services and commemoration services being held up and down the country.

I remember with some embarrassment when, as a rebellious and somewhat belligerent teenager, I demanded to know "why should we celebrate war?" It didn't take me long to realise that Anzac Day was not a celebration but rather a time of collective reflection when we can share sorrow at the loss of so many lives in war, and deep respect for those who have endured warfare on behalf of the country in which we live.

I respect our fallen soldiers for an additional, personal reason. I want to acknowledge our war veterans who returned home from battle with permanent, often very disfiguring physical disabilities or mental illnesses such as post-traumatic stress, or a combination of the two.

As a result of the fortitude and multitude of these wounded men, we have seen the progression of disability rights, medical expertise in this field and government support.

Injuries, particularly in World War I, were often unbearably disfiguring for these young men. The harm they suffered inspired the rapid advancement of early plastic surgery and prosthetic medical expertise.

And while many of the public couldn't bear the sight of these heroes, Governments could not look away. They were forced to recognise and support those affected by disability.

In the US, after World War I, veteran and former infantry officer Robert Marx played a crucial role in establishing Disabled Veterans of the World War (DAV) in 1920.

Just hours before the war's ceasefire he suffered a severe injury - being wounded by a German artillery shell left him with a permanent disability.

The DAV worked to raise public awareness about disabled veterans, while pressuring the US Government to adopt programmes to address their rehabilitation and reintegration into American society.

In the 1940s and 1950s, disabled World War II veterans placed increasing pressure on the American Government to provide them with rehabilitation and vocational training.

World War II veterans made disability issues more visible to a country of thankful citizens who were concerned for the long-term welfare of the young men who sacrificed their wellbeing to secure the safety of the United States.

In England during World War II the treatment of seriously injured, burned and disabled soldiers and civilians centred on returning them to the war effort.

Importantly, this meant disability was no longer seen as an obstacle to employment, at any level. The most famous example was the acceptance of Douglas Bader (1910-1982) as an RAF pilot, despite the fact he had lost both legs in a flying accident in 1931.

Back home in Aotearoa, medical rehabilitation for ex-servicemen began after World War I and developed through the Disabled Servicemen's League, established after World War II. Services were available to civilians from 1954.

So while we remember those who fought in the wars to protect our way of life this weekend, let's also remember the contributions the universal soldier has made towards disability rights in the past.

Let's hope we don't have to go to war to progress our rights in the future. And let's keep turning towards what's hard to bear, so that we keep progressing.

• Jonny Wilkinson is chief executive of Tiaho Trust - Disability A Matter of Perception, a Whangarei-based disability advocacy organisation.