Interesting take here, Bill, & sad to see Oz gong the US way of ‘celebration.’
Max: I see Andrew’spfint, but liked a lot of it perhaps because I too am of that generation that, at least in Canada, didn’t have to fight in any of them.
Still, see ‘And the Band Played…’as THE response to the day…
Doug
> On Apr 27, 2016, at 2:47 AM, Bill Wootton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Well, we both Anzaced it I see, Max, you more specifically. 'vaguely pious'
> is an interesting expression and I sort of get it. Not to be sniffed at
> these committed chaps but neither are we the full bottle on
> unstinting worship. Surprisingly, there was a bit of reluctance to toady to
> the legend expressed in Melbourne newspapers this year, both in article
> form and in letters to the editor. Not that what was done a hundred years
> ago has changed factually but the methods of 'celebrating' the date have
> come in for closer scrutiny. At the MCG where the Anzac Day footy fixture
> was played between Collingwood and Essendon, army jeeps and trucks were
> parked outside the ground. I saw small girls, giggling and exploring the
> shelves in the trucks. Pretty off to have the equipment on show I thought.
> But at least they've dropped the military fly-bys.
>
> Interestingly, a statue to a conscientious objector was unveiled, in New
> Zealand, perhaps Auckland perhaps. I'll track it down for you.
>
> I'm trying to get my head around how a drill sergeant might do his business
> 'wryly'.
>
> Liked your wrap-up here at the end. Not too much of this 'slipping' out
> pre-dawn!
>
> Bill
>
> On Wednesday, 27 April 2016, Max Richards <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>> Anzac Day, Seattle
>>
>>
>> How good, to rise early,
>> slip out the door, head
>> down before sunrise
>>
>> to the gathering place
>> near the lake edge,
>> knowing nobody here.
>>
>> Vaguely pious, I’m
>> of a generation
>> spared war itself.
>>
>> Uncles had known it -
>> France, Gallipoli -
>> told nephews nothing.
>>
>> Second War - a cousin
>> or two; safe at school, I.
>> Dad in Home Guard boots
>>
>> practiced First Aid, changed,
>> went off to lawn-bowls.
>> High-school teachers - some
>>
>> had been at the War;
>> quietly now drilled the school
>> cadet battalion wryly.
>>
>> Us? - conscripted at eighteen
>> to Camp to play at soldiers
>> through a slow summer.
>>
>> Instructors knew Korea.
>> We were just America’s
>> little helpers, as once
>>
>> Britain’s. The next war
>> would be nuclear.
>> Wrong. Vietnam.
>>
>> A student of mine -
>> Melbourne this was -
>> conscripted, turned
>>
>> objector, suffered
>> Army discipline.
>> Washington, Canberra,
>>
>> wouldn’t give peace a chance.
>> Some took to the streets,
>> desperate, ineffectual,
>>
>> till Saigon fell.
>> They were years when
>> Anzac Day made no sense.
>>
>> Now I’m old, perspective
>> and a little reading
>> suggests two public days
>>
>> sharing sadness, not
>> mere patriotism:
>> 11th November,
>>
>> think of Wilfred Owen.
>> 25th April - especially
>> now we’re joined by Turks.
>>
>> Even so remote a town
>> as American Seattle
>> brings together three sets
>>
>> of rememberers.
>> I think: I could carry
>> two flags if I had them;
>>
>> eyes would fill with tears
>> when the bugle plays;
>> and share after
>>
>> in the promised barbecue.
>> How good to go early -
>> if only I’d gone.
>>
>> Next year perhaps,
>> should I live so long,
>> and wake well before dawn.
Douglas Barbour
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https://eclecticruckus.wordpress.com/
Recent publications: (With Sheila E Murphy) Continuations & Continuations 2 (UofAPress).
Recording Dates (Rubicon Press).
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Charles Simic.
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