GALLERY: Soldiers remember the fallen in Afghanistan

When the world watched two planes slam into the World Trade Centre in New York, Richard King was eight years old. He knew Afghanistan was a land that Alexander the Great passed through. And it made rugs. That was about all.

''It wasn't until the next day really that we sort of clicked on that this was pretty massive and … they cancelled school pretty much so we could hear about it,'' he says.

Now 20, he is Private King, one of the many young Australian soldiers who recall the attacks on the US on September 11, 2001, and the start of the war in Afghanistan, as bewildered schoolkids.

Twelve years and more than half their lives later, they find themselves in that distant country, helping to bring this drawn-out first chapter to a close.

Private King is stationed at Tarin Kowt multinational base in Oruzgan province, Afghanistan. Today, they will take part in the seventh - and last - Anzac Day service Australians hold at the base as the war in Afghanistan draws to an end.

Tarin Kowt base will be closed by the end of this year, bringing home most Australian troops. Private King and his mates from Charlie Company's 31 Alpha section are among the last of thousands of Australian soldiers to rotate through the sprawling base.

While the September 11 attacks didn't factor strongly in their choices to enlist, the guys from 31 Alpha all say that Afghanistan in particular - and to some extent Iraq - reinforced their wish to join the army.

Private King plans to become an army padre. He joined the infantry and came to Afghanistan because he ''didn't want to be a 21-year-old just out of Duntroon trying to tell veterans from this war how they should live their lives''.

Private Matt Sepping, the section's marksman and combat medic, was a 13-year-old schoolboy when he learnt of the September 11 attacks.

''The principal got up and spoke and told us that everything had pretty much changed … from that day on,'' he said. ''Ever since joining up I've always strived to get over here to Afghanistan and serve my country, so that was another big reason why I did join.''

Soldiers of the ''iPod generation'' sometimes are criticised for being neither as rugged nor as rigid as their predecessors. But commander Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm Wells doesn't buy that.

''They ask questions and don't accept 'because I said so' as an answer. That makes them more adaptive to the challenges of complex situations like Afghanistan,'' he says. ''That's the mark of the modern Digger, the modern Anzac.''

Like any tight-knit bunch of young men, 31 Alpha raise the sport of taking the mickey out of one another to an Olympic standard. No one is spared the ribbing, not even the section commander, Corporal Dylan Stalba-Smith.

''They give me a bit of stick about being older than them,'' says the 29-year-old. ''But I guess I feel like I'm their older brother and I just try and lead them in that way … and get them through.''

They've learnt a lot about themselves, about other people, and particularly about Afghanistan.

For Private Brendan Capolicchio, it's important to understand that the Afghan people have grown up with war. ''That makes it seem they always have to be at war, but they don't,'' he says.

Private Sepping adds: ''They've been at war a hell of a lot longer than we have. But we get to see children being children in some of the villages, not having violence in their lives every single day.''

The question naturally arises as to whether the loss of Australian lives in Afghanistan's war will stay at 39.

Regardless, enough blood has already been spilt that Tarin Kowt will become one of those places remembered on future Anzac days.

''Obviously if we do get out, no more casualties is always a good thing,'' Private Sepping says.

''Being in Oruzgan, a fair few Aussie soldiers have passed away here and it's always going to mean something to every Australian soldier … but the job's done so it's time to come home.''