Anzac Day

[den]

"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours... You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."

Kemal Ataturk


They shall not grow old
As we that are left grow old;
age shall not weary them
Nor the years condemn:
At the going down of the sun
And in the morning
We will remember them
Lest we forget

Laurence Binyon

Comments

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

By the way

Kemal Ataturk was the general in charge of the Turkish forces at the time, and became the first leader of post-Ottoman Turkey.

[i-harobed.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info. Ataturk's statement is beautiful and infinitely sad.

Here in the U.S. (sorry, forgot to tell you where I was earlier but you figured it out), Armistice Day is also called Veteran's Day, in order to honor all who have fallen in war. And we have Memorial Day at the end of May for the same purpose; that one arose from a much earlier tradition, called Decoration Day, which honored those lost in the American Civil War, a sad chapter indeed.