ANZAC DAY IN ESK 2018

Aria Edwards - Guest Speaker  2018 ANZAC Day Esk

I know it is considered erroneous to be writing in the first person but on April 25^th  having attended another deeply moving ANZAC Day commemoration at the Cenotaph in Esk’s Memorial Park, driving home in the silent safe cabin of my car, my brain swallowed up by the rhythm of the road, I couldn’t help harking back to those many young lives cut short in someone else’s country, defending it as if it was their own, but for their own, with no obligations only their youthful courage taking them to  places where they never could have imagined what it was going to be like.  It was through their experiences and scribbled notes in letters and diaries, that they created a history by writing theirs.  That their sacrifices and inexplicable courage will never be forgotten was so beautifully expressed by Toogoolawah High School’s Captain Ariah Edward’s in her truly eloquent address.

Led by the strains of Brisbane City Brass Band, the parade was always going to generate goose bumps until, right on cue, that supersonic roar of the RAAF’s F/A 18 Super Hornet soaring at what seemed like rooftop altitude had my heart doing a jig somewhere in my chest.  And what would be an Esk ANZAC Day commemoration without the unwavering passion and unique oratory of Esk’s RSL Sub-Branch President, Charlie Elwell who was true to form as he gave a warm welcome to what appeared to me to be an unsurpassed gathering of  guests including Mayor Graeme Lehmann, Father Ross Cameron, Moreton District’s President and Secretary,  many returned servicemen and women, veterans of subsequent wars along with all-comers who found rare spare spaces to observe and pay their respects. 

Esk RSL Sub Branch President Charlie Elwell

The 2/14^th Light Horse Troop were unwavering in their formation of the Catafalque Party and Maree and I were again honoured to be invited to sing the Australian and New Zealand National Anthems.  How fortunate is this town to have Matthew Lukritz whose bugling of the Last Post and Reveille continued to stir emotions seemingly on a par with that felt at the gathering in respect of their fallen, of the Veterans around the kaleidoscope of coloured wreaths layered at the base of the memorial.  While many of our Choir ladies were a notable presence amongst the masses, it was the Choir Men who, guided by Alexis and with Margaret’s faultless accompaniment, did us proud with their stirring rendition of “Who Are the Brave”.

And so as I chewed up the tarmac, I wanted to think that those past generations, often bruised and battle-scarred but well-rounded, wiser and wilier for it, will have been the springboard for our future generations to remember the legacies left as they make their own way.  I know that mistakes will always be made and from them, lessons learned but it is hard after being part of such a wonderful ANZAC Day commemoration in Esk not to feel optimistic…that’s what I’m thinking.

By: Sue Walker