EACH Australian is an heir to the deeds of service personnel, whether they came in war or peace, Albury's Anzac Day service heard.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Top Navy officer Commodore Michele Miller, who was born in Albury, made the comment in her commemorative address at Monument Hill.
Noting the hundreds of names at Albury's cenotaph and on memorials dotted across nearby towns, Commodore Miller said they symbolised sacrifice.
“But our memorials are also reminders of those who returned and lived out their lives as hard-working Australians who married, had families, and built our modern country,” Commodore Miller said.
“The tens of thousands of men and women who served Australia in peace as they had defended it in war – many living with horrid memories and physical scars, but given purpose through their community and families.
“We are all their heirs and we are in their debt.”
Commodore Miller, the Navy's director-general of personnel, had time as a baby on the Border as well as year 7 at Wodonga West High School, both periods coinciding with her father being at Bandiana's Army base.
She chose the Border for her Anzac address, which allowed her Albury-based father David, the commandant of Bandiana from 1982 to 1984, to watch on.
“For many of us, those who came home from war were our parents and grandparents,” Commodore Miller told the crowd which included Albury mayor Henk van de Ven and Health Minister Sussan Ley.
“I am a grand-daughter of a Crete veteran; the daughter of a Malaya and Vietnam veteran; wife to a veteran of the Middle East and a veteran myself.”
Albury RSL sub-branch president Graham Docksey was delighted with the turnout to the service, which was bathed in sunshine.
More than 40 wreathes were laid on the monument, turning the white steps into a patchwork of flowers.
Lavington Public School and the Albury Teachers' Association deposited books, including Minefield and Miniskirts – Australian Women and the Vietnam War.
Mr Docksey, who oversaw his final Anzac Day as sub-branch president, ended the service by urging attendees to connect with a veteran.
Shake one’s hand or hold the hand of a grandfather or grandmother and ask them about their war service, he said perhaps recalling his entry into the Vietnam War as a 19-year-old 50 years ago.
