I’ve really been getting into the documentaries and movies/mini series about the ANZACs and all those who gave their lives for us in the World Wars. The other night, I watched The WaterDiviner and spent so much of the movie in tears. The film is a beautiful story of a father who goes to Gallipoli to find his three sons.
It made me think about my two sons – about their love of adventure, travel and mateship. These are things that we have fostered in them from a young age and things which, back in the day, would have had them signing up to join the army.

So today, I want to say thank you; to the boys who headed off to fight {many never to return home}, to mothers who gave birth to these beautiful boys, to the fathers who fostered bravery and mateship in their sons, to the brothers and the best mans who backed them up and fell beside them, to all those who were left behind.

To the boys {and most of them really were just boys} who packed up and headed off thank you. Thank you for giving up your life for the security of our nation. Thank you for fighting then, so that my boys are now free to go to school, to travel the world, to fall in love, and to have a family themselves. Most of you sacrificed those things to go off to War and to fight for your King and Country – and I feel so blessed that my boys do not have to do that.

To the mothers who waved goodbye to those boys, supported the war effort, sent packages, wrote letters, and for those of you who never got to see them again – thank you so much. I couldn’t imagine sending my boys off to war never knowing if they would return to you again.

To the fathers who kicked the ball with these boys, taught them how to ride, and read to them at night – you never thought that they’d leave you to go off and fight. You’d made them brave and strong, smart, quick and there for their mate – you thought he’d grow up along side you and help you fix the farm gate! I can’t imagine the heartbreak of losing your son at war.

To the brothers and the best mates who signed up along side, thank you for wanting to protect your younger sibling, or for wanting to lead by example or for whatever reasoning that you were there to back up your mate. Mateship is so Australian and I only hope that it isn’t something that is lost {like being chivalrous } as my boys grow older.

Off to war you went and we are so blessed that you did what you thought was right. I don’t think that I could be strong enough to go myself and I would be broken if I had to send my sons off. To see Gallipoli and the trenches, to see the circumstances in which you had to fight just makes my heart break. Most of you were just young boys and yet you had to step up to be men over night.