ANZAC morning

We walked up the street to the Shrine of Remembrance this morning. It is ANZAC day in Australia, a day set aside to remember those fallen in war. One hundred and one years ago today, Australians joined the battle of Gallipoli far away in Turkey in World War I. Australia lost many soldiers in Gallipoli -- young people, thousands of miles from home. The families left behind, devastated by their loss, spared no expense to build the Shrine of Remembrance on a hill just above the river. This would be a place to honor their dead, and to remember, so that they would never, never walk blindly into war again.

Six o'clock in the morning, 25 of April, an estimated 45,000 people were on the hill at the Shrine to remember again. After 101 years, those who never returned are long dead. Those who built the Shrine are dead. Most of their children are dead. But Australians still remember.

Some things are important to remember. I was proud to be a part of the crowd on a cold autumn morning. Remembering.