At the dawning of April, the NZ Defence Force should be pressing their uniforms, polishing their boots and dusting off their rifles in readiness to answer the nation's call on Anzac Day, two and half weeks away.
Instead, our armed forces have written to Returned Services Association branches telling them NZDF can no longer provide a volley of shots at their dawn services.
"Firing parties are a legacy from post First World War Anzac day services when the occasions were funereal in nature, allowing the public to come together to mourn for family members who would never have a funeral at home," explains the letter from an NZDF desk that calls itself the Heritage, Communication and Protocol Group, Anzac Support Team.
Some support.
Is this the first sign the Defence Force may have decided a century of commemorations is enough? If so, our military chiefs are losing interest in Anzac Day much sooner than civilians who continue to attend the annual services in large numbers. How sad, and how unwise not to take every opportunity to reinforce the honouring of national duty and lost lives that military service sometimes requires.
