U3A Benalla and District Inc.
  • Home
  • Benalla
    • Benalla
    • Benalla District
    • Who, What and Where? - Benalla Rural City
  • About
    • Our U3A
    • President's Page
    • Executive Committee
    • Convenors >
      • Convenors
      • Convenors A - Z 2022
    • Program Suggestions
    • Newsletter
    • Website
  • Groups
    • Groups A - Z
    • Recent Groups >
      • Armchair History
      • German - Beginners
      • Meditation
      • Russian Literature
      • Hot Topics/The News - Fact or Fiction?
    • Archived Groups >
      • A - M >
        • A Different View Of German History
        • Armchair Traveller
        • Booker Reading Group
        • Bushwalking - Mid-week Walks
        • Comparative Religion
        • Facebook for Mentors
        • Google Apps/TS Plus
        • History - An Introduction to Western Civilization
        • History - Moments in Australian History
        • Investment I (1996 -2015)
        • Legal Matters (Short Course)
        • Making the Most of the Internet
      • O - Z >
        • On Target - Learning to Shop Online
        • Opera
        • 'Over There'
        • Rail and Tourism
        • Tech Savvy Apple Devices - Intermediate
        • Tech Savvy Community Projects
        • Travel Group
        • Zoom Short Course
  • A-Col
    • A - COL
    • 'A Taste of Art'
    • Art Appreciation
    • Australian History
    • 'As Time Goes By' >
      • Home
      • 'Precious Objects'
      • 'Failure'
      • Our Stories - by topic
    • 'Be Connected'
    • Birdwatching
    • Brain Games
    • Bushwalking - Easy Walks
    • Cards '500'
    • Chat n' Chew
    • Coin Collectors
    • Collectors
  • Col-G
    • COM - G
    • Community Singing
    • Creative Writing
    • Demystifying Psychology
    • Enjoying the Internet
    • Exercises for Fun
    • Exploring the Universe
    • Family Research - Advanced >
      • Home
      • Family Stories
    • Family Research - Beginners
    • Film Discussion Group
    • Garden Appreciation
    • Garden Team
    • German >
      • German Home
      • Lessons
  • I - R
    • I - R
    • 'In the Lap of the Gods'
    • Investment
    • Jane Austen Book Club
    • Let's Talk Books
    • Lifeball
    • Meet and Mingle
    • Music Appreciation
    • Page Turners
    • Patchwork and Craft
    • Photography
    • Play Reading
    • Politics & Current Affairs
    • Recorder Group
  • S - Z
    • S -Z
    • Singing for Fun
    • Sky's the Limit
    • Stock and Land
    • Sustainability
    • Tech Advice
    • Tech Savvy Apple - 'Pages'
    • Tech Savvy Beginners - Android
    • Tech Talks
    • Ukes4Fun
    • Wine Appreciation
    • Wise Guys Book Group
  • Join
    • Join Us
    • Membership Application/Renewal Form
    • Program Guide 2023
    • Timetable - Month Overview
    • Full Timetable with Dates
    • New Courses 2023
    • Venues and Maps
  • News
    • News - General
    • March Newsletter
    • Calendar 2022
    • Monthly Calendar
    • Website & Facebook
  • FB
  • Gallery
    • Gallery 2022
    • Gallery 2021
    • Gallery 2020
    • Gallery 2019
    • Gallery 2018
    • Gallery 2017
    • Gallery 2016 >
      • + Christmas Lunch 2016
    • Gallery 2015 >
      • Christmas Lunch 2015
    • Gallery 2014
    • Lifeball Video
  • Links
    • Resources and References
    • U3A Network Victoria
    • Seniors Online Victoria
    • U3A Albury Wodonga
    • U3A Beechworth (Indigo U3A)
    • U3A Bright
    • U3A Wangaratta
    • U3A Goulburn Valley
  • Contact

'Lest We Forget'

27/4/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
My early recollections of ANZAC day centre on the trip to Melbourne.  My father would go to the march assembly point, while my mother would take me up to the road leading to the Shrine.

We would wait until the march came by and listen to the many bands that would play as the men and women marched.  As my father’s unit approached, I would run out and join him to march the last one hundred metres or so, up to the Shrine forecourt.  In those days many of the children marched with their parents for the last section leading up to the Shrine of Remembrance. In later years my father attended the ANZAC Day march in nearby Epping, with a much shorter march and only the returned servicemen and women participating.

I did not serve in the military.  My birth date fell outside the National Service ballot. I did however, have a number of friends and work colleagues who served in Vietnam. I became very disillusioned with the way the majority of the population were influenced by a noisy minority, resulting in the disgraceful treatment of our men and women when they returned from Vietnam. Fortunately, in later years, the rhetoric from this noisy minority has been ignored, and the younger generations are now showing respect for the past and current returned military service personnel.

My father and his two brothers all served during the Second World War.  My mother had a brother and sister who also served. Whilst my mother did not serve in the military, she did work at the munitions factory at Maribyrnong during the war.  Fortunately all returned home safely, but the later years would reveal that whilst they did not have any significant physical scars, they all had mental scars of varying degrees, which for the most part went untreated.

During ANZAC day I like to take some quiet time to sit and reflect on what these service people did for our country. Yes, in many cases they fought battles on distant soils, but the process that they went through ensured that we enjoy the freedoms we have today. I also like to sit and reflect on what the families of the service people who did not return went through. I think about the wives, the mothers and fathers, the grandparents who dreaded the knock on the door from the postman or the telegram boy.

I think about the anguish that the family went through when they realised that there was now a void in their family that will never be refilled. I think about how shattered wives with young children must have been, to learn that their husband had been killed and will possibly be buried in a distant land, away from a family farewell.

I think about the mothers, who in some cases not only lost their husband, but also their sons. I think about the father whose succession plan for the family was snuffed out by the death of his son or daughter in a distant land.

I also think about how the families coped with the issues that the returning ex-service men and women tried to grapple with, largely unassisted. The manner in which these returning people were left largely to their own devices was very disappointing. The impacts will be felt for generations.
​

LEST WE FORGET
​

​Barry O’Connor.
Benalla U3A.
April 2020.

0 Comments
    'Our Stories'

    Barry's page

    Barry began sharing stories stories in 2016 and 2017, rejoining during the Covid 19 break in 2020.  An active class member, Barry is also writing stories as part of the Family Research class - https://u3abenalla.weebly.com/family-stories/category/barry-oconnor

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    '18 Vasey Avenue
    'A Childhood Memory'
    'Advice'
    'A Memoir Of Importance To Me'
    Car Stories!
    'Community'
    'COVID In The Country - Benalla Update'
    'Crash'
    'Easter'
    'Ideas Piggy Bank'
    'If Only I'd...'
    'It's Never Too Late'
    'Julia's Jacket'
    Lalor'
    'Lest We Forget'
    'Making Waves'
    'My Other Life'
    'One Moment
    'Options'
    'Precious Objects'
    'Rebellion'
    'Right Here
    Right Now'
    'Shaped By Childhood'
    'Stock And Land'
    'Summer'
    'Tennis'
    'The Book I Could Not Put Down...and Why'
    'The Sky Is The Limit'
    'The Telephone'
    'The Year That Challenged Me'
    'The Year That Made Me'
    'This (Confusing) Life'
    'This (Extraordinary) Life'
    'This (Flexible) Life'
    'This (...) Life'
    This Year'
    'Too Hard Basket'
    'Trees'
    'Tuesday 6th October 2020"
    'what Happened On Tour'

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    March 2017
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    RSS Feed

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay our respects to their elders - past, present and emerging.
Picture
News
​Newsletter
Facebook Page
​
Program Suggestions
​CO-VID Safety

U3A Benalla & District Flier 2023
​Membership Application/Renewal Form 
​
Program Guide 2023
Semester 1 Timetable with Dates 2023
Semester 1 Timetable Month Overview 2023
Developed and maintained by members, this website showcases U3A Benalla & District. 
​Photographs - U3A members; Benalla Art Gallery website; ​Weebly 'Free' images;Travel Victoria and State Library of Victoria