With ANZAC day falling on a Friday this year everyone is enjoying another long weekend and it looks like the weather is going to be a little kinder than it was for Easter. As with Easter it is sometimes easy to forget the real reason for the holiday and it pays to focus on the sacrifices made in the past so that we can enjoy the freedom and peace that we do today.
With this year marking the 25 year anniversary of the Tarawera Medical Centre it is moving to look back and remember the privilege we have had in sharing in aspects of the lives of patients who are/were veterans and victims of past wars. Unfortunately as the years pass their number dwindles but there are still those with amazing stories of sacrifices made. Invariably they are very humble people who make little of their contribution and will only share their stories with some prompting. We have been fortunate to know members of the Maori Battalion and other infantry divisions, Bomber and fighter pilots from Europe, Corsair and Kittyhawk pilots from the Pacific, Navymen, servicewomen and civilians who worked in heavy industry in support of the war, and refugees from Eastern Europe who made a new home in New Zealand. Vietnam veterans deserve special mention because of limited public support for their service compared to previous conflicts. The reality of it all continues today with the loss of Kawerau local, Luke Tamatea along with his colleagues Jacinda Baker and Richard Harris in Afghanistan in 2012.
With the comforts of the modern world it is sometimes easy to forget what went before and we need to consciously remind ourselves and educate our children.
