Remembrance Day ceremony held at Ettalong foreshore
The Vietnam Veterans Peacekeepers and Peacemakers Association Central Coast Sub-Branch held its Remembrance Day at 11am on Monday, November 11, at the Ettalong Foreshore Memorial.
The ceremony was attended by about 200 people.
Guest speakers were Ettalong Primary School captains Lily Thompson and Phoenix Terepo.
Lily Thompson spoke of "the bravery and sacrifice made by the men and women who served our country".
She mentioned the 416,000 who enlisted in the First World War, and the 60,000 who died.
She quoted Prime Minister Mr Billy Hughes speaking of their valour, endurance and resource.
Referring to "our heritage, our free institutions of government, all that we hold dear", he said that "surely ... Australians throughout the ages ... will guard with resolute determination the privileges for which they fought and suffered".
Phoenix Terepo said the school had planted poppies in its flag-pole garden.
He recited a poem by British Colonel John F Willcocks, written in 2004, in which a woman explains to her son the symbolism of the poppies.
In the final line, she weeps because "the world is forgetting again".
SOURCE:
Media release, 20 Nov 2024
Norm Harris, VVPPA Central Coast