Lest we ever forget

An inspiring Editorial from the team at the Australian on Remembrance Day.

"The Great War generation set an example for all ages

IN inevitable ways, Remembrance Day 2008 is one of the more poignant since those that immediately followed World War I, when a fledgling nation recalled its enormous sacrifice in that conflict amid the faces of the families and friends of the dead in nearly every community.

Today, 90 years after the Armistice between the warring powers on the Western Front took effect at the 11th hour, we mourn the more than 60,000 Australians who died, without the presence of a single survivor from those shipped overseas.

We, as modern Australians, are learning more about the experiences of the Great War generation and the unique heritage they bequeathed of a country that has volunteered more in blood and treasure to freedom around the world than could rightly be asked of it. It is well known that Australia lost more in the services for its population in that war than did other countries.

Prominent among the heroes has been, ironically perhaps, one of the most privileged, the Western Front commander of the Australians, Lieutenant General Sir John Monash. As Mr Fischer and others are seeking, it would do well for the Rudd Government to promote Monash posthumously in recognition of his achievements and sheer humanity.

There are millions of Australians whose families arrived after 1918, but whose nations also fought in World War I. Many of these also remember today with sadness. They include Turkish Australians, whose old country was briefly, and terribly for both nations, Australia's enemy but has since become a friend.

We bear two obligations to those who died and the many thousands who lived on with awful injuries: never to forget what they did, and never to retreat from their still astounding example of generosity towards the defence of every peoples' liberty.