ANZAC Day in USA

“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
here in this country of ours.
You, the mothers,
who sent their sons from far away 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.”
ATATURK 1934 

ANZAC Day is commemorated by Australia and New Zealand on 25 April every year to remember members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who landed at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I

ANZAC day in San Diego was on Wednesday 25th April 2007 commencing 10.00 am on board the ex-USS Midway. It was rich in tradition and ritual. It was a form of military funeral and followed a particular pattern.

It was about taking a moment to pause and remember those who have gone before everyone, realizing that what everyone have today, owe to those who were willing to give their lives for their country.

A commemoration begins with a march by returned service personnel before dawn to the local war memorial. Military personnel and returned servicemen and women form up about the memorial, joined by other members of the community.

Requiem, read by Mr Rob Ayling, Address from Mr Innes Willox, Response by the Honorable Rob Taylor. Prayers, led by Chaplin Martin, RN ending with “ The Lords Prayer” and the song of the National Anthems.

At the end of the ceremony Mr Innex Willox on behalf of the Commonwealth of Australia, The honorable Rob Taylor on behalf of New Zealand, Ms Arzu Kurkoglu on behalf of the Republic of Turkey and CAPT Peter Sciabarra on behalf of the United States of America laid wreathes.

Ceremony followed by a reception at The Bondi Bar & Kitchen. We had a chance to talk with Mr Willox, Mr Taylor and Ms Kurkoglu…

Mr Innes Willox (Consul-General of Australia) said “Anzak day is a day that unites all the people who were involved in that horrible conflict. Australians, New Zealanders and Turks. Turks put up a valiant and in the end victorious effort to defend their homeland. And the Australians among others were sent across to do a job and it was flawed. But the campaign was so brutal and so harsh, in the end there was mutual respect between both countries and soldiers of both countries. There were stories of Turkish soldiers burying Australian deads and the other way around. And it brought two countries together and in Australia in many ways we belive that Anzac Day helped create Australia as a nation. There is also I believe in Turkey is that the same conflict helped to create Turkey as a country. So out of that horribleness of that battle two great counties were born.”
Honorable Rob Taylor (Consul General of New Zealand) said “This is the New Zealand’s national day. The most important because it commemorates New Zealand as a nation. People of New Zealand found their own identity. It basically happened over 90 years ago on the shores of Gallipoli when young Australians and new Zealanders most of them had no idea where they were going to. They had no comprehension of what shores of the dardanel did look like. They were farmers, mechanics, labourers, they were just very ordinary people who had this dream,

And of course in New Zealand we celebrate what affectively was a defeat for us. There was no winners on that day April 25th all those years ago. There were three groups of people. Turkey, Australia and New Zealand.

And for me, I think the person really summed it up the most was the former president Ataturk who created those very immortal words. They talked about Mothers of Turkey, finding new sons on this day and they weren’t Turkish sons they were the sons of fathers and mothers from New Zealand and Australia who sent their children abroad to fight in this war. It’s interesting because since then Anzak Day in New Zealand has come to mean many things. It’s not only a commemoration of those who died at war. It represents a lot of things in terms of unity. It also gives us cause to think about, you know around us there are a lot of wars now still, some old some new. And it’s not war that’s going to unite people, it’s the peace and friendship comes from the war that actually united people today.”

Ms Arzu Kurkoglu (President, Turkish-American Association inSan Diego) said: “We are honored to see our flag next toAustralia,New Zealand and American flags during Anzac Day Memorial Service inSan Diego. By his commemorating speech on the loss of thousands of Turkish as well as Anzac soldiers in Gallipoli, our great leader Ataturk opened the doors to forging close ties with the former enemy. As children of Ataturk we follow his path and repeat his words “Peace at home, peace in the world.” It is a great pleasure for us to joinNew Zealand andAustralia communities on this important day.”

(Turkish Journal)