Ceremony commemorates 100th anniversary of ANZAC Day

Ceremony commemorates 100th anniversary of ANZAC Day

By Cindy Holbrook

For Skywrighter

Members of the Royal Australian Air Force based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base hosted Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) Day April 25 at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force to recognize the sacrifices that Australian and New Zealand soldiers, sailors, airmen and airwomen have made, not only in defending their country, but in upholding their nations’ longstanding commitment to peace and security. This year marked the 100th anniversary of ANZAC Day.

The morning ceremony took place from 8 to 9 a.m. in the museum’s Early Years Gallery and was followed by a gunfire breakfast hosted by the members of the Royal Australian Air Force.

An audience of approximately 100 gathered in the gallery’s display of aircraft and artifacts that captured the spirit of World War I and leading up to World War II to celebrate ANZAC Day.

On April 25, 1915, 16,000 New Zealanders and Australians surged ashore at the foot of rugged cliffs on the Dardanelles peninsula, Turkey, to open a campaign intended to give allied shipping access to the Black Sea, according to a speech by Australian Wing Commander Sandy Turner.

“Time dims the memory of ordinary events but not great events,” she said. “In a nation’s history, great events – whether in peace or war – live in our memories regardless of time. They are deemed great not necessarily for what they achieved, nor for whether they were victories or successes. Rather, great events are distinguished by the quality of the human endeavour they called upon, by the examples they create for ordinary men and women, and by the legends they inspire.”

Every April 25, New Zealanders and Australians at home and abroad gather to commemorate not just those countrymen who died on that day but all current and former men and women of their Defence Force.

“For New Zealanders and Australians, ANZAC is our own day. It is a day that we mark the deeds of men and women who had come to see themselves as New Zealanders and Australians and who were mourned by people who regarded themselves as New Zealanders and Australians,” Turner said.

The service included the singing of the Australian National Anthem, a laying of wreaths ceremony by Squadron Leader Simon Resch, Maj. Yigit Sen and Squadron Leader Roger Kropman, followed by children in attendance laying red and white flowers below the wreaths. The Wright Brass quintet from the Air Force Band of Flight provided music for the event and Fr. Donald Moss offered a prayer of remembrance.