An immense Wellington crowd turned out to hear of the stories of the Australians and New Zealanders lost to war at the ANZAC Day ceremony in Cameron Park.
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President of the Wellington R.S.L Sub-Branch, Roy Holmes led the proceedings following the customary march down the main road to Cameron Park's Cenotaph.
Standing beneath the statues of 'Winged Victory' and her two companions adorning the top of the Cenotaph, Mr Holmes delivered a stirring speech speaking to the horror and hardship endured by those who went to war, those who never returned and those who waited for them at home.
"Inscribed into the walls of memorials around Australia are the names of more than 102,000 Australians," Mr Holmes said.
"Australians from all walks of life, Australians by birth, Australians by choice, indigenous Australians, all who fought and died for our country, their country, the country of their ancestors."
Mr Holmes also paid particular homage to the women who served as nurses in the country's earliest wars, from the Boer war onward and who also made the 'supreme sacrifice' while wearing their nation's uniform.
"Behind every name on every memorial, large and small, across this nation, there is a story of courage and for every name, there is another story; a story of loss of family, friends and of those left behind," Mr Holmes said.
"Each one is a narrative thread in the fabric of service that underpins our nation, each one a thread extended from the sands of Gallipoli to the servicemen and women of the Royal Australian Navy, Army and Air Force that stands on duty today throughout operations worldwide."
Mr Holmes took a moment to reflect on the changing nature of ANZAC Day, and how his perception of the effects of war and the spirit in which people remember and commemorate those lost has changed.
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"As I stand here today, my understanding of ANZAC day has also changed, I've been privileged to wear the uniform of the Australian Navy and now, as I reflect on how very fortunate I am to have come home safely, changed, but undamaged, by all that I have seen and done."
Mr Holmes made mention of the pain suffered still suffered by those who live with PTSD, whose wounds may not be visible but are 'carved just as deeply into them as names into granite'.
"On this day, I think of all those who have farewelled loved ones to war, some to never return, others who returned forever changed, haunted by the ghosts of their experience."
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"But as an Australian, I stand here in awe of what those who went before have given me, because every Australian, regardless of whether we have a direct link to those who wore the uniform or not is recipient of their sacrifice and of their hope that we who are left to grow old will live in a country at peace," Mr Holmes said.
"Now I understand that when the bugle sounds through the valley the call to awaken, it is not a call ot the dead, it is a call to the living, it calls each of us that we might use the threads of their sacrifice to strengthen the fabric of this nation."
"Then perhaps if the so many that sacrificed so much were to walk amongst us today, they might say 'we too are proud of you', Lest We Forget."