Watch Live: We will remember them - live coverage of Anzac Day 2023. Video / Whakaata Māori
OPINION
As in years past, thousands of New Zealanders and Australians will make their way to dawn and daytime services to mark Anzac Day.
We do so this year without the Covid-19 restrictions of past commemorations.
Across the globe in far-reaching corners, smaller ceremonies will occur to mark the day.
As a former serviceman, I have been fortunate to attend such ceremonies in offshore gatherings, sometimes while on operations or during many visits to deployed personnel. The themes of respect and unity pervade the morning mist and acknowledge memories long past.
In New Zealand, we do so in great numbers and attendance is by all ages. We acknowledge those who gave their lives in the interests of the world and our national security. Those who we remember came from towns and cities across the country and their faded memorials mark the contributions made in two world wars.
Less known are the identities of those who gave their lives on operations from Korea to Afghanistan. While their inscriptions on little-known monuments record the ultimate price, their commitment and sacrifice will, on this day, also be officially acknowledged in ceremonies across New Zealand.
In some circumstances, there will be dependents present; families, including children, who will quietly and sadly remember their parent; and parents, their daughter or son.
While this day is more often focused on times long past, more recent events have awakened us to the realities of modern service life. The consequences of commitment that all service personnel attest to on joining the Defence Force belies the reality of modern conflict.
Since 1990, some 64,000 personnel have joined the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) and many of them have served in far-off locations including Bougainville, the Solomon Islands, Bosnia, East Timor, Afghanistan and on numerous United Nations missions.
Unlike other careers, service life starts with an attestation to accept command and leadership that has no parallel in modern society. It is the same for all defence forces across the globe.
The consequence of this career choice is the likely outcome of a government-directed deployment into harm’s way, so readily done by our service personnel over many years.
This unique career choice has no parallel with the rest of the national workforce. That is as it should be. It is a personal decision to commit. However, as we all too infrequently reflect on servicemen and women past and present, let us also this Anzac Day, “thank them for their service”.
These committed men and women proudly carry the ideals that have survived from the first commemoration of Anzac Day until now.
Martyn Dunne as an active NZ Army Soldier. Photo / Supplied
The Royal New Zealand Returned Services Association exists to “remember, support and advocate” for our veteran community, whose legacy is in the tradition of their forebears and for which we all remember them.
As we re-energise the three strategies of the RSA, we will remember their sacrifice and commitment in the interests of the nation. In return, the support will be commensurate with the environment they enter and return to, especially as veterans when they re-enter civilian life. To that purpose, the RNZRSA will advocate for each veteran to ensure they are not forgotten, and their service is valued and acknowledged.
‘I te hekenga atu o te ra, tae noa ki te aranga mai I tea ta, ka maumahanga tonu tatou ki ti ratou - At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.’
Martyn John Dunne is a retired New Zealand Army officer, diplomat and senior public servant. He was the chief executive of the Ministry for Primary Industries. From 2011 until 2013 he was NZ High Commissioner to Australia in Canberra. He is a board member of the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association.
