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Tears and toil

Janice TeoEastern Reporter

WATCHING the Anzac Day services held across Australia and the world, my memory flashed back to that fateful day when our parents told us there was a war and for the next five years we experienced the horrible things that war does to mankind.

It makes a 10-year-old grow up fast.

I migrated from Holland with my husband to Australia in 1954 and we have raised a family here and made our life.

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As I sat and watched, I began to think do we in Australia really understand and comprehend the tremendous contributions and sacrifices Australia made?

Do we think about the heartache many thousands of mothers, wives and sweethearts faced being told their loved one was never coming home? Australia back then was still a very young country, yet she answered the call to make her contribution and we still do.

I am a fiercely proud Australian, having the privilege of becoming a citizen in 1960. My husband served for more than 20 years in the Australian armed forces and did a tour of duty in Vietnam and Borneo.

Close to Anzac Day each year, he looks forward to the day to pay homage to his buddies who did not come home and reminisce with his mates because there is a strong bond among those who have served and experienced the ravages of war.

Lest We Forget.

TINA KLEIN, Eden Hill.