Canberra, November 9: War Memorial

In 2016 Trip Advisor named the War Memorial in Canberra the Travellers' Choice Award for Australia and the South Pacific. That is a huge, huge honor. It still lives up to the recognition.

The road leading up to the War Memorial is peppered by large statues thoughtfully commemorating each war. If you were to drive to there, or take the closer bus stop, you wouldn't even notice them. By walking at our slow pace, we paused at each one to reflect on the lives lost.

 

The memorial has many rooms, each highlighting the Australians who have died in war. They have only been a country since 1901, and have been swept into global wars. In Australia and New Zealand we noticed they honor their veterans much more visibly than they do in the United States. 

We visited on Saturday, November 9: two days before what we call Veteran's Day, but what they eloquently call Remembrance Day. The lower area in front of the the building was filled with white folding chairs ahead of the service that would take place on Monday morning. In Australia (at least at this war memorial), they hold Remembrance Day ceremonies seated and somberly on November 11, and celebrate ANZAC Day on April 25 standing. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. They honor their veterans together.

62,000 ANZAC died in World War I, including our friend Andrew's great-grandfather Thomas Dawson. We found his name on the walls surrounding the Commemorative Area. I noticed many Dawsons. Were they related? Was that a common last time for the era?

Pausing to read the names to look for the one I knew on the list drives home the point just how many young lives were cut short by a war taking place on the other side of the globe.

The memorial is incredibly moving. By the time we reached the Room of Honor, which is mostly empty except for real aircraft, Don had to sit to refresh. 

One step into the World War II room with their Nazi symbols and we had to turn around. We couldn't even enter the room. Museums talk have warnings for the Aboriginal that there are pictures of dead people and that might be triggering. For us, it is pictures of Nazis and hearing about the rise of Nazism in the United States in the wake of the election. It is now acceptable to hate others. How could over half of our country actively chosen hate over love and inclusion is something I will never understand. Just like I don't understand why leaders choose wars and send their youth to die over having conversations. Why do we fear others? Why do leaders fear others? Why do leaders pit people against each other?

Each of the exhibits were a little foreign to us because all of the focus is on Australia and how it impacted Australians. Same wars. Different focal point.

They have exhibits on the Cold War era and are expanding to include peacemaking and modern conflicts. 

We were struggling to find TJ Dawson so Don asked for some help. They pointed him to right group and we found his name. While thanking them, I broke down in tears for the first time since the election. Every staff member exudes empathy. I am not the first person to start crying, nor will I be the last. They made me feel valued.

They then invited us to lay a wreath in honor of a family member who served. As
I've said, that is not part of our culture. I had to think about it. Our servicemen came back alive. Don's dad served in the navy, but always minimized his service. My mom's dad also served, but he died before I was old enough to get to know him. We wrote messages they said will be kept private in their archives. We thanked these men for defending our nation for democracy and hoped we never have to fight that fight again.

The ceremony happens at 4:30 each day. When we arrived we were asked if we had a ticket for the ceremony. We did not know we needed it, but that was on my mind when I booked a late afternoon timeslot (free timed tickets are required to visit). They easily upgraded our ticket and even let us go in early. The ceremony is available on their YouTube channel. Each day they honor one veteran with a short story about their life. Our day it was Stoker Robert Thomas Houston. Sometimes the family is at the event. This time, his family was not in attendance. They have a two year wait list if you want to request your loved one be honored. The ceremony is only about 30 minutes long. We were given chairs because of Don's leg (and I think they thought I was going to fall apart). 

After the ceremony one of the docents told me interesting statistics. At the pace of one name read each day, it will take years for each name to be read, and that's if there are no more wars.

The last name will be read in:

Australia: June 22, 2297 (103, 044 names)

New Zealand: July 31, 2096

United States: in the year 5764

Russia: in the year 78,785 for only World War I and World War II victims

That's a lot of youth.

Of note, there have been less and less deaths with each war. The Afghan war had a display of folded white blankets with a cord and poppies on them representing each death. There were many less than in every other war.

Between September and November 2018 a call went out to people to crochet poppies for the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. Over 300,000 poppies were made. They were planted in groups to represent the 62,000 deaths.

We wanted to take pictures during the ceremony, and I really wanted to make notes, but did not because we were on display. Don was especially moved, more than I would have guessed. He later said this was one of the highlights of the trip.

We left and walked to a closer bus stop to visit the LEGO store which was already 

Big kangaroo

closed for the night. They are only open past 5 pm on Friday nights. Had I known, we might have gone the day before. This store is on the outskirts of a mall. It has a giant kangaroo in it made out of LEGO pieces. Alas, no LEGO passport stamp for Don.

We took another bus to the tram to the hotel. It would have been faster to walk, but by this point in the day, Don's leg was really swelling. We rested, then walked to dinner a couple of blocks away.