This morning, have you thought about the men and women who fought for you? Or was that just yesterday, on that one day of the year we spare to them.
It is an affecting ceremony, the Anzac Day service, whether at the break of dawn or later in the morning, when you can get your remembrance with a coffee and croissant.
More News Videos
Anzac Parade in Brisbane
Thousands of spectators line Adelaide street for the Anzac Day parade in Brisbane on Monday.
The feelings of loss, of gratitude, of sorrow, are all real, but they fade, don't they? And come the day after, we return to our normal lives.
Soldiers don't. Not always.
![Ex-military soldier Graham Tweedale gets out of his wheelchair to march on Anzac Day 2016.](/web/20160706015531im_/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/e/q/i/g/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.goeqir.png/1461615334975.jpg)
Many return from war whole in body but fragile, even broken, in spirit. They are strong men and women and it can be difficult if not impossible to see their wounds, but wounded they are.
Forty-five have died in battle since we committed them to war after the September 11 atrocities. More than five times that number have taken their own lives in the quiet days after returning safely home.
Combat deaths are marked by ceremony and attention. The flag-draped coffin. The honour guard. The news stories and political statements that are always about regret and resolve.
The suicides? The entirely preventable fatalities which should be counted in the death toll?
No. Not so much.
The solemn promises of Anzac Day – that we will remember – ring hollow and tinny just one day later. How is it we can all feel so pleased with ourselves for feeling so sad on 25 April, and feel we've done our bit, it's time to get back to business on the 26th?
Anzac dawn service in Brisbane
The "heroic deeds" of Australian and New Zealand troops are remembered at the dawn service at Anzac Square in Brisbane on Monday. Nine News
Partly, that's how the politicians who actually commit us to these conflicts want it. A surge of manageable patriotism and fellow-feeling that can be turned on and off like a tap. They don't want you to think about the never ending drip, drip, drip of blood on the flag.
It makes waving the thing so much harder. But blood is blood. You can't commemorate the sacrifice and invest your national pride in blood spilled during combat, and ignore the much larger stain from the losses taken after the guns fall silent, not when those losses can be avoided.
We don't put our soldiers straight on to the battlefield. Many long months of training, sometimes years, prepare them for war. But preparing them for the rest of their lives, for living with what they have seen and done in our names? On that we're not so good.
There are a number of organisations that can help. The RSL has been doing this work for many decades. Here in Brisbane, Walking Wounded is saving lives and helping those left behind when help did not reach their loved one in time. It is mostly staffed by former servicemen and women, many of them volunteers.
You can learn more about them at walkingwounded.org.au.
If you or somebody you know is distressed phone Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636. For youth support contact Headspace via www.eheadspace.org.au/
0 comments
New User? Sign up