I have scheduled this post to publish at 0600 AEST, when most east coast Dawn Services start, to commemorate ANZAC Day. I’m borrowing from the Australian War Memorial website to explain what ANZAC Day is. I encourage you to click on the link to read more.
What is ANZAC Day?
ANZAC Day – 25 April – is probably Australia’s most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.
One of the traditions is to hold the Dawn Service, a service of national remembrance.
Before dawn, the gathered veterans would be ordered to “stand to” and two minutes’ silence would follow. At the end of this time a lone bugler would play the Last Post and then conclude the service with Reveille, the bugler’s call to wake up.
Part of the ceremony is the recitation of The Ode, which I have used in my photo. It is from the poem, “The Fallen”, by Laurence Binyon. You can click the photograph for a larger version, where The Ode is more easily readable.
The photograph features one of the most recognisable Australian natural landmarks, Uluru (Ayres Rock). I traveled to the Australia sim in Second Life to shoot the photograph.
For non-military and adopted Australians, such as myself, it is a reminder that, although this country has rarely been directly attacked in modern warfare, the spirit of freedom lives strong in those who have chosen to protect its shores. This is my small tribute to those who have served and made it possible for me to live in this amazing country I now call home.
Pics by Peep 
You bring me tears again! But good ones, you make me face what I bury so deep, but it is you that is wise Peep because facing this, feeling, remembering, it is good. So very good. We can put actions behind us, but we should never put people there. We should bring them gently out of our soul from time to time, dust off their surface and just feel them as they surround us. Thank you for this meaningful work of art, the poem is lovely as is your photo. ❤
I worried that you were seeming so excited about this post to arrive. I knew you had lost someone you loved, and I wanted to prepare you in some small way that this wasn’t about something frivolous. I DID work hard on the photo. I wanted it to be meaningful. I was probably a bit flippant in my last post about mentioning it, but it meant a lot to me that I could somehow express my gratitude to those who have given so much for their country. And not just those who were lost; those who survived, but carry very real feelings – and sometimes scars – from their service.
Thank you once again for your beautiful words and support. It means a lot to me ♥
And you to me ❤
This is beautiful Peep. We do have to pay tribute to those who have worked, suffered, died, and still suffer to give us freedom…an individual treasure that is sometimes forgotten.
It’s so easy for most of us to forget outside those days marked for commemoration. For others, it’s something that is never forgotten. This is for them.
Thank you, Allyson, for your lovely words.