ISSUE 75 : Mar/Apr - 1989 - Australian Defence Force Journal

Defending Freedom and Pursuing PeaceBy The Reverend Campbell Egan, A RESIntroductionnational POW memorial was opened andA dedicated in the grounds of RMC Duntroonduring 1988. The memorial consists ofthe Catholic chapel used in Changi POW campduring the second world war. The building wasdismantled, stored, transported and nowreconstructed,and is a splendid memorial thathonours our POWs and especially those whopaid the supreme sacrifice.On the island of Singapore a war cemeterypreserves the memory of the Changi experience.The cemetery is maintained immaculately.Hundreds and hundreds of little white crossescover the lawns. They stand for fallen warriors.On the central memorial stone these words arecarved:THEY DIED FOR ALL FREE MENIn Australia today there are two movementswhich go their separate ways but which have agreat deal in common. They are both interestedin gaining, maintaining and enhancing peace.Anzac TraditionLarge sections of the Australian nation pausefor a while on the 25 April. This truly nationalday helps citizens to honour the sacrifices madeby men and women in previous days in preservingthe freedom that we enjoy today.Ordinary men and women from all walks oflife, at various times in our history and from allparts of the Commonwealth responded whenthe Government of the day made a commitmentto particular military conflicts. Australia wascommitted to the two great world wars and successivecampaigns in the past 40 years, includingcommitments to peace keeping initiativesof the United Nations Organisation.The National Government made the decisionto be committed to these conflicts, and ordinaryAustralian men and women responded.Anzac day reminds the nation of the importanceof values such as national pride and nationalservice, devotion to duty and selfsacrifice, bravery the defence of freedom,resistance to aggression and the preservation ofpeace.Anzac 1989 stresses the fact that had ourfighting men and women of previous days notdeterred the aggression of Japan and defeatedthe evils of Nazism, then life in this land of theSouthern Cross might well be radicallydifferent.The nation should never be allowed to forgetthe sacrifices of Australian people of previousdays who fought for freedom and the preservationof peace. The nation should not forget thesacrifices made by our fighting men andwomen, but also the sacrifice and contributionto the national cause by those who remained athome.The moral qualities of the Anzac tradition —resistance to aggression, courage in conflict,sacrifice for the common good, the defence offreedom and the pursuit of peace — should notbe allowed to be washed away by the unthinkingtides of materialism, hedonism and carelessforgetfulness.Peace MovementIn recent years another powerful movementhas developed with a strong interest in thewelfare of the nation and indeed the preservationof the whole world. This movement islargely, though not exclusively associated withPalm Sunday. Marches, rallies and meetingsare held throughout the nation. The necessityof peace pursuing policies, programmes andperceptions is emphasised. The movementlooks more to the future than to the past. Itstresses the danger that arises from man's increasedtechnology in the production of moreand more powerful weapons of destruction andmore effective delivery systems. It highlightsthe dangers of the nuclear age, and the fragilityof a world peace that rests on mutual fear ofannihilation. The Peace Movement challengespoliticians and the public to think more ofpeace than the heroics of the past, more of thefuture than the days of yore, more of friendshipbuilding than reliance on bigger and more lethalweapons of destruction.ExcessesI believe that these two movements have agreat deal in common when shorn of theirexcesses.