A Day of Remembrance

My day started at 2:00 AM on April 25th as I rolled out of bed in preparation for the three hour drive up to Kansas City and the National World War 1 Museum. I was making the trip to attend the ANZAC Day Remembrance dawn service that began at 5:30AM. Many Americans may not know exactly what ANZAC Day is and why it is celebrated. The best way that I can describe it is that it is sort of a mix of Memorial Day and Independence Day all rolled into one. It is celebrated on April 25th, usually with services at dawn around the world. I really did not know what to expect as I was on the road up to Kansas City. I had never attended such an event but I was pleasantly surprised by my experience. There was one unfortunate incident involving a hot cup of coffee and my foot which I will recount below, but other than that it was a great way to remember the sacrifices of the Australian and New Zealand service men and women from the last century.

ANZAC Day?

The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was the first organized group of Australian and New Zealand soldiers to fight for the British Empire during the First World War. The ANZAC Day tradition began in Australia in 1916 to honor the sacrifices of these service men fighting in the First World War but in the years since it is grown in scope and importance. When the two countries found themselves in another world war in 1939 the day shifted from just a remembrance of soldiers from the first war to cover soldiers from both conflicts. This facet of the day, the remembrance of service men and women both past and present is similar to Memorial Day services in the United States or Remembrance Day services held on November 11th around the world. However, there is another dimension that makes ANZAC Day special for the two countries in the south Pacific.

The ANZAC symbolized something more when they boarded their ships on their way to distant battlefields, they signified the first independent units of the two countries to fight overseas. The thousands of men who volunteered to fight carried with them the fact that they were announcing to the world that Australia and New Zealand had an individual identity, a feeling that would grow in the countries after the war. This national identity would take the two colonies and lead them on a path towards nations with their own governments and culture separate from Britain. That is why I compare the holiday to the American Independence Day tradition which celebrates, oddly enough, our independence from British rule. Wrapping up the remembrance of military personnel with the celebration of their national identity makes for a very potent mix. I have it on good authority that ANZAC Day is one of the few days of the year where pubs are forced to be closed for the first half of the day in Australia. That maybe does a better job than anything of explaining how important the day is.

The Coffee Drops

Before the service began at 6 there was a Gun Fire Breakfast of coffee, tea, and biscuits. Let me tell you after driving for 3 hours I was absolutely thrilled to find a cup of coffee. After parking the car and walking up to the monument I see the coffee station off to the right in a covered corner by one of the exhibit rooms. There is a line of people waiting so I jump in line to wait my turn. There is a Major from the Australian army giving all the military personnel a bit of rum in their coffee, she is standing right beside the coffee when I get to the front of the line and grab a cup. I begin to fill the cup and just as I stop the flow the worst thing imaginable happens…the cup slips out of my hand. I see it slowly falling toward the concrete and hit, and splash, and spill. After a sigh I look around for something to clean it up with. I can only describe my look as probably something akin to a 5 year old after accidentally breaking a piece of the fine China. Thankfully, the Major reacts quicker than I can, grabs a cup of water and splashing it over the spill says “That should pretty much take care of it.” I then, very carefully, fill another cup while making some joke about not spilling it a second time. Once the cup was full I awkwardly said thank you and walked away. It was only several minutes later, several minutes of wallowing in the amount of embarassment I felt, that I realized my foot was burning. As it turned out a decent amount of the cup of coffee had found its way onto my foot, and needless to say having boiling hot coffee spill onto your foot is not the best way to start the day.

Dawn Service

A key point in any ANZAC Day celebration is the Dawn Service. The Dawn Service at the National World War 1 Museum began at 6AM with the playing of bagpipes. This was followed by an introduction and an invocation both of which gave some backstory and tried to explain the meaning behind the service. After a few prayers and bible verses Major Craig Wilson of the New Zealand Army gave the keynote. His focus was on remembering the sacrifices made by all service men and women not just during the Gallipoli campaign or from Australia, but all over the globe. He made special mention of the Turkish representatives in attendance and of the poem recited by Kemal Ataturk in 1934 when the first group of Australians came back to the beaches of Gallipoli. After the keynote a few more prayers were said followed by the ceremonial laying of the wreaths (which can be seen in the cover photo above). The The Ode was spoken (more info here) and then The Last Post was played. The Last Post is the bugle called used by British Commonwealth countries at military funerals and is used during ANZAC Day ceremonies before a two minute silence. You can listen to The Last Post over on Youtube.

After the service I was planning on going up to some of the Australian representatives after the ceremony and asking a few questions, but after the coffee incident I did not feel like I could take the risk of running into the Major who saw me spill the coffee so after the ceremony I did the only honorable thing and saw myself out. Overall, I would recommend making the trip out next April 25th to everybody in or near the Kansas City area. It is early, that is for sure, but it is a great way to pay respect to men and women of the past. Just watch out for the coffee, it is very warm.