Aidan Smith has always attended the Anzac Day dawn services. Photo / Sarah Ivey
Aidan Smith has always attended the Anzac Day dawn services. Photo / Sarah Ivey
Young Kiwi joining other youth ambassadors on trip to Gallipoli to celebrate centenary of landings.
Growing up in a tiny Central Otago town of just over 900 people, Aidan Smith always dreamed of travelling to Gallipoli to pay his respects to the fallen on Anzac Day.
Each year on 25 April Aidan's dad would drag him out of bed to remember the fallen and he knew it was an important day. But it wasn't until he got a bit older that he appreciated the gravity of the sacrifice the Anzacs made.
Today the 18-year-old from Clyde will begin his journey to Gallipoli to fulfil his Anzac Day dream.
He will join 24 other young Kiwi youth ambassadors travelling with the New Zealand Defence Force to Gallipoli for the centenary of the Anzac landings.
Their role is to use their experience to help ensure that the legacy of our Anzacs is carried into the future.
"It's pretty awesome. It's also very humbling to be given the opportunity to go," he told the Herald.
"I've always been down at the Anzac service for as long as I can remember. I was in primary school when I realised just what these men and women did for our country. That is the main reason I want to join the NZDF."
Aidan has been a member of the NZDF Air Training Cadet Corps since 2008 and plans to join the Air Force as a pilot as soon as he has finished his mechanical engineering degree at Canterbury University.
The 25 ambassadors were selected from hundreds of young people who entered speech and social media competitions, or were nominated for their involvement with New Zealand Cadet Forces, Limited Service Volunteers and the Prime Minister's Youth Programme.
The group met in Wellington in March for a two-day training workshop. They also met with the Governor-General and NZDF chief Lieutenant General Tim Keating.
The group's duties include offering practical support to other New Zealanders - particularly older attendees.
Aidan and the other youth ambassadors will meet in Auckland today to run through their trip and what is expected of them in Turkey.
The group will play key roles in commemorations and their final rehearsal will be watched at Whenuapai Air Base on Saturday by Veterans' Affairs Minister Craig Foss.
Aidan Smith and the other youth ambassadors will meet in Auckland today to run through their trip and what is expected of them in Turkey.
The youth ambassadors
George Barton
is head boy at Wellington College.
Joshua Bruce, 17, is from Pakuranga, Auckland and attends Macleans College.
Jessie Chiang, 19, is from Auckland and in her second year of a communications degree at AUT.
James Costelle-Ladanyi, 19, lives in Wellington. He is at Victoria University studying history and theatre.
Nadine Davies, 19, is a member of the Sea Cadet Corps. She lives in Hamilton.
Sam Harrison is 17 and lives in Nelson. He enjoys history, tramping, art and running.
Jacinta-Rose Hirst, 17, lives in Auckland and is a student at Rutherford College.
Toby Joll is a member of the New Zealand Cadet Forces. He is 18 and lives in Wellington.
Shannon Julius is 19 and lives in Wanganui. She is a full-time mum and was nominated through her participation in the Limited Service Volunteer Programme run by the NZDF.
Jacobi Kohu-Morris, 17, is head boy at Logan Park High in Dunedin.
