War and Remembrance, the Aussie Way: an ANZAC Day diary

Each year on this date, Australians remember those who have given their lives in war.  As an American living in Sydney, I have been profoundly moved by the way this country honours and genuinely mourns its war dead on ANZAC day.  It is a commemoration that in many ways stands in stark contrast to America's Memorial Day.

At the centre of ANZAC Day is the senseless waste of human life called the battle of Gallipoli.  A nation which grounds its national identity not in a triumphant victory, but in an unmitigated military catastrophe cannot glorify war.  It can only honour the sacrifice of those who have served.

All around Australia today thousands have gathered for solemn dawn services.  Hundreds of thousands more have lined the streets in cities and towns to honour veteran "diggers" marching by.  These are not bombastically patriotic ceremonies and parades; they have more of the solemnity and reverence of military funerals and processions.

There's no such thing as an ANZAC Day sale.  This is not a day to take advantage of the low, low prices on new Acuras, mattresses, swimsuits, and patio furniture.  And while everyone's off work, it's not a day to throw a big barbeque or party.  People might share a beer or two today, but over everything there hangs a deep sadness for young lives squandered in war.

Beyond the commemorations here in Australia, still more thousands make pilgrimages to Gallipoli in Turkey where, along with New Zealanders and Turks, they share in the heartbreaking ritual of the ANZAC Day dawn service, and join together in prayers for peace.

At the site of the service, ANZAC Cove, there stands a monument with the words of Kemal Atatürk, the Turkish commander who fought against Australian and allied troops at the horrific battle of Gallipoli.

Atatürk's words capture the spirit of this day:

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours...

You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well.

-Kemal Atatürk