Speaking on behalf of the Ballina RSL sub-branch, Dick Wills BEM has announced that there will be no public commemoration service in Ballina for Remembrance Day next month.
Mr Wills said that with ‘some degree of emotion and sadness’ he regretfully advised that ‘due to the current COVID-19 climate and the restrictions in place, the Ballina RSL sub-branch will not be holding a public commemoration service at the Ballina RSL Memorial, for Remembrance Day on Thursday, 11 November 2021.’
He noted that the Ballina RSL Memorial Park on Grant Street remained available for the public’s private commemorative purposes to pay their respects, and for people to place a wreath or floral tribute at any time.
‘The Ballina RSL sub-Branch thanks you for your participation in previous Remembrance Day Commemorations and we look forward to your continued support in the coming years,’ said Mr Wills.
‘We will remember them – lest we forget.’
Good. Warmongering is so last century.
IBarry, it’s not about celebrating or promoting war. It’s about remembering the victims of war. Soldiers, though you may not have noticed, are victims too, all of them, including the survivors, they are not some evil force, they are, at worst, misled kids. The crime is war. By remembering the losses and horror we are reminded of the cost and futility. Soldiers, those we mourn on November 11, are victims of war not the instigators of it. Sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters , brothers, who out of a desire to do right, rise to the call of their leaders and responding to the lies they are told. The true obscenity is the war, not the people who fight it, they, most commonly, are no more than patriotic children. To me Rememberance Day and Anzac Day are sad days which serve as a warning. If you’d like to really know what those days represent, attend a Rememberance day service or a Dawn service. Then maybe you’ll understand. There is no celebration there I assure you, no bellicose patriots and certainly no desire for more war, quite the opposite in fact.
Peace
We haven’t been in many justifiable wars but Hitler and Japanese invasion were two pretty compelling reasons in WW 2. A little acknowledgement of the sacrifices of these men and women wouldn’t go astray. Especially when so many of us see wearing a mask as an outrageous expectation and infringement of liberty.