I always struggle to know how to handle ANZAC day... As a pacifist who is also thankful for the heart with which these men and woman carry/carried to protect and serve...I choose to honour this heart, and be challenged by the difference that each of us can make in this world through each action no matter how big or small.
Here is a poem of mine in that regard:
THE NUMBERS
an ANZAC poem by Andy Dickson
Alexander Bain Stewart
Recruit 152
Regiment 6
Canterbury Battalion 1st company
Drafted in 1914
October 16 he left Lyttleton
bound for Cairo
where he trained 5 months
April 25th, 1915
9:30am he stormed the beaches of Gallipoli
1 of the first
2 kilometres North of their intended landing point
2 kilometres north of a safer landing point
2 kilometres north of far fewer casualties
The man was 60kg
His pack, 35
He added the weight of 1 ammo box
Discarded by the Brits on the beach
And made it to safety
204 of his battalion didn't
It was 2 days until he got more water for his canteen
On May 2 the ANZACS attacked Baby700
A hill of prized position
It lasted 2 days
No ground was gained
51 of Stewart's Battalion were lost
The Battle for the Daisy patch began on May 6
It lasted 3 days
500 metres of ground was gained
Of no significance to the allies' cause
The allies lost 6500 men
The kiwis 800
The Canterbury Battalion 206
1 in 6 - kiwis who stormed the beaches of Gallipoli never made it home
On August 8 at the battle of Chunuk Bair
The battalion was fired upon from 3 sides
While helping a fallen comrade
Alexander Stewart took 1 bullet to the chest
10cm left of his heart
10cm between life and death
10cm between living as a hero and dying as one
10cm between the existence of over 30 descendants or not
10cm between my existence or not
When I crunch the numbers
I see that bravery and fear
are not mutually exclusive
When I crunch the numbers
I see that the hunger for power
brings immeasurable cost
When I crunch the numbers
I see the power in small things
That 10cm can stretch through time
10cm can save a family line
When I crunch the numbers
I see that it all could have been so different
That the small things make a difference
That I must make a difference!