Woolworths cancels ANZAC day, page-60

Yes, it was seen as such in 1916 and must have seemed like a good idea at the time

the war to end all wars

however, the thinking was as flawed then as the happenings which created the conditions in Germany which lead to the rise of the Nazi party and WW2 - and then on and on we've gone since -

And Australia is totally different now to what it was in 1915 and 1916.

I probably think that Australia has outgrown ANZAC day in reality. And, I'm not really sure what we remember - we think we remember their sacrifice - and that's ? not a bad idea

but, in reality - what we should be remembering is why they went - and very often - many of our people who went overseas in all wars and never returned -

yes, fine - remember their sacrifice, and IMO, celebrate their lives - all cut short - but, in reality if we really really really wanted to honour them -

we'd look to why they had to go and how come they ended up dead - and that comes down to a failure of leadership.

I've always thought - as I stood looking at the artifacts and I stood in battlegrounds in the early morning, largely peaceful and oddly beautiful places many or most of them -

what they would say if we asked them -------- 'what would you like to say?'

and I think we'd get the same answer - from the trenches and fields in WW1 to the deserts and jungles of WW2 and the jungles of Vietnam -

I reckon they'd say -------- do whatever you have to do to stop this stuff. No one should ever have to go to war. There's got to be a better way.

something similar to that anyway --------- that's the message I got to see over and over from not only Aussies, but other nations ------------- Verdun is a pretty good look into how soldiers think when they have long forgotten why they are fighting a war - ok, it's not Aussies - but, the Aussies weren't all that far away - and many said things in the same vein.

From what I've seen that we've been involved in since Gallipoli ---------- well, IMO, we've failed them and I think ANZAC day is probably really a bit stale now. It almost hides our failure in trying to do justice to them, for what they supposedly fought for.