Remembering Remembrance Day It was Remembrance Day two days ago on Saturday the 11th of November. Remembrance Day originally was intended to mark the Armistice in 1918. A formal recognition of the awful toll taken on humanity during the Great War of 1914-18. For Australia it has mostly revolved around the loss of "our boys." It used to be called Armistice Day, but that particular term has slipped out of our popular vocabulary. Now its just Remembrance Day. Its become another version of Anzac Day, which is in April.
In Britain and the US they mark the same date. This year in London the Queen of England (and New Zealand) dedicated a new war memorial to News Zealand troops who had performed their last Haka for King and country during the Great War and other conflicts. To mark the occasion Maoris performed another Haka to symbolise that their courageous warrior culture was not one to be trifled with.
In the USA it's called Veteran's Day. President Bush addressed some troops and spoke how the 3,000 or so US soldiers who have been recently killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are being remembered by him. An official delegation also visited Earnest Pusey, a 111 year old USN veteran of WW1 and presented him with a WW1 medal which had been overlooked many years ago. When the omission was originally raised the authorities discovered they didn't have one in stock. They had to search the medal dealers of America for one.
In France they have solemn observances too. They now have four veterans left from WW1. They had five last week, but Maurice Floquet, a Battle of the Somme survivor inconsiderately took his last breath the day before Remembrance Day.
I feel sure many other WW1 countries observe the same memorial date, but we don't learn of them in this country.
In Australia there were ceremonies at War memorials all around the nation. I didn't attend the one at Fremantle. But at eleven o'clock we were reminded of the sacred time when some RAAF jet fighters made a high speed dash over our house. We can just see the War Memorial from here, and that is where they has been a couple of seconds earlier.
At the National War Memorial in Canberra there were also the usual ceremonies, but there was also a more private one to mark the inclusion of the names of two more Australians on the Roll of Honour - those of SAS Warrant Officer David Nary and Private Jacob (Jake) Bruce Kovco.
WO Nary was killed during a training accident in Kuwait in early November 2005. There is still an element of mystery about the circumstances, but apparently it was vehicle related. I first mentioned his death on
8 November 2005. It has just been announced that he is to have a type of long range patrol vehicle named after him - the Nary SOV.
Private Kovco died in Baghdad on April 21 this year after his own handgun discharged into his head under mysterious circumstances in his barracks. I first wrote about that incident on
23 April 2006. Subsequently, a series of investigative and logistical errors over the repatriation of his body took place which left many people reeling. Looking at my "historian's" file, to date I've acquired a selection of 216 digitised documents on the events. There has been a lengthy inquiry and the final report delivered to the Chief of the Defence Force, but it still remains secret. A censored version is expected to be released next year, but the fact that it will be censored seems likely to generate further contention.
The inclusion of Private Kovco's name on the Roll of Honour on Saturday has already sparked another minor controversy. A former president of a NSW Vietnam veteran's association has allegedly objected, apparently on the grounds that the death was not warlike enough.
As a Vietnam veteran, my own view is that Private Kovco's name is deserving of inclusion. He was a soldier posted away from his family on active service, and he died in that capacity. Soldiers die in all manner of unusual ways during wars and their loss by whatever means is no less tragic for their nation and their families.
© MMVI Paul R. Weaver.
About the writerCheck out each month's subject index on the Calendar Page for my "common-man" monologues about survival in 21st century Australia – plus a little history occasionally. An original essay is added most days as part of an undertaking to write a couple of million words.
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