Tomorrow is ANZAC Day, the day we commemorate those who served Australia in war.<br /><br />Its like Memorial Day in the US, but probably of greater significance to more of our people than Memorial Day seems to be in the US.<br /><br />There are countless examples which exemplify the spirit and sacrifices we honour.<br /><br />The one which always comes to my mind is the extraordinary action of our 39th Battalion in New Guinea in WWII. These largely teenage and not very well trained and badly equipped, but fortunately very well led, militia fought overwhelming Japanese forces to a standstill during a tenacious and courageous fighting withdrawal which allowed fresh forces to roll the Japanese back. It was the first land defeat of the Japanese in WWII and the start of the island campaign which forced them back to Japan and ultimate defeat.<br /><br />One of the many selfless acts was after a party of a dozen or so mostly walking but still badly wounded had been sent back down the Kokoda Track to make their own way to medical help many days away. A day or so later the Japanese attacked 39 Bn in force. The situation was so desperate that a runner was sent down the Track to see if any of the wounded could return to fight. All but one went back immediately. The bloke who didnt had severe leg wounds; couldnt move by himself; and although he wanted to return he was left behind as he would have slowed the others down too much.<br /><br />After their magnificent action our top commander, General Thomas Blamey who was an excellent staff officer but a self-serving total political sh!t in just about every other respect, addressed the remnants of the 39th Bn. They expected congratulation. He outraged them by infamous comments about Its not the man with the gun who gets shot, its the rabbit who runs. . There was a distinct prospect of a mutiny by the disgruntled troops, whose officers dissuaded them from carrying out their threats. This is what they looked like not long before http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.users.bigpond.com/battleforaustralia/webgraphics/Kokoda/Menari.39th.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.users.bigpond.com/battleforaustral ia/battaust/KokodaCampaign/Isurava/IsuravaIndex.html&h=284&w=461&sz=50&tbnid=y4mQ9ERaRZIJ:&tbnh=77&tbnw=125&start=1&prev=/images%3Fq%3D39%2Bbattalion%2Bkokoda%2B%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D% 26rls%3DGGLD,GGLD:2005-06,GGLD:en%26sa%3DN<br /><br />A day or two later Blamey visited the 39th Bn sick and wounded in hospital. When he entered the ward they started munching on lettuce leaves and singing the chorus from a popular song:<br /><br />Run rabbit - run rabbit - Run! Run! Run!<br />Run rabbit - run rabbit - Run! Run! Run!<br />Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!<br />Goes the farmer's gun.<br />Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run.<br /><br />Blamey was not happy.<br /><br />All this exemplifies the best in our service men and women: courage; tenacity; selflessness; mateship; respect for leaders who deserve it and contempt for those who dont; and a sense of humour to endure bad situations.<br /><br />Needless to say, when the 39 Bn, and countless other, troops got home they were treated badly. Jumped up little clerks whod spent the war hiding behind filing cabinets denied them medical and other benefits because they couldnt produce records of their wartime injuries. The fact that battles can lead to the lack or loss of records didnt matter.<br /><br />So now I jump to today.<br /><br />Weve just landed 450 soldiers in Iraq to provide security for a unit of Japanese army engineers. <br /><br />Bit of a turn around from 60 years ago when we had a no prisoners policy with the Japanese, but never with the Germans, at the grunt level regardless of what the intelligence officers wanted. <br /><br />The Japanese C.O. in Iraq will attend our troops ANZAC day ceremony tomorrow.<br /><br />Despite fears about resurgent Japanese militarism and its curious attitude to its wartime history school history books (which Ive raised in another thread and am now reconsidering), Japan hasnt been involved in an external or internal conflict for the past 60 years. Its honoured the peaceful constitution imposed on it after WWII. Meanwhile Australia, the US, the UK, France, China, and others have all been involved in various wars during the same period. <br /><br />So the Japanese still refuse to acknowledge their participation in atrocities in WWII? So do Australians. We shot lots of Japanese out of hand, and killed them in other ways. OK, so they started it by doing some unspeakable things to our troops including cannibalism, but we were savage too. You wont find any of this in any history book Australian teachers are likely to give their students. Even 15 odd years ago when some of the dumb f***s started putting out educational books referring to soldiers as harm workers., FFS!<br /><br />The Japanese Prime Minister apologized a couple of days ago for Japans wartime actions. We can quibble about the wording in translation, but its one of many apologies Japan has made in the past 60 years. Who else would put up with having their nose rubbed in something that theyve apologized for time and again?<br /><br />Maybe theres no better memorial to the fallen than to work with rather than against our former enemies to build a world where we can forget, if not forgive, the past and work to find ways to live in peace. It's something that people like Weary Dunlop, who endured the worst the Japanese had to offer, did for many years after the war. There couldn't be any greater example of the path to a better world.
<br /> we all remember the 9/11 event but know one remembers how much provoking it took to get there