Happily our young people are not insensible to the horrors of war.
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I say happily because they have not had to experience war first hand but have read and seen enough material for them to understand how truly awful it was for all sides and for the men, women and children who bore the pain of loss.
In her address at the Merimbula Remembrance Day service Lumen Christi Catholic College student Phillipa Keogh said that despite WWl being “the war to end all wars we still attempt use wars to end conflicts”.
The war was the most-deadly in human history with an estimated 40 million total casualties – 20 million deaths and 21 million wounded. That’s considerably more than the entire populations of Australia and New Zealand combined.
Military personnel weren’t the only people injured or killed in the war.
Many returned home severely damaged, mentally and physically and would endure those scars for the remainder of their lives.
The same is still true of our service men and women today and it would be comforting to think that maybe we have a better understanding of their needs and vulnerabilities.
Phillipa pointed to the recent Invictus Games as evidence of the ongoing damage still borne by servicemen and women but said the price paid remains common.
“My generation is very conscious of those fallen, those who believed their sacrifice was for the purpose of peace, came not only from Australia but from numerous countries and from all sides and whilst wars emerge from our differences, the pain of human loss is common.”
RSL sub-branch president Allan Browning has been quick to praise the students for their participation and interest in the 100 year celebration of the signing of the armistice.
It’s a collaboration that has many benefits as those who have experienced war first hand talk with our students. Some of those students are of a similar age to those to went off to fight in WWl.
This weekend the Merimbula RSL sub-branch will take 50 local students to the War Memorial in Canberra in a further collaboration that promises an important exchange of experiences and views.
It is a poignant reminder that those who have served are an important part of our community because their experience can inform our youth in a way that books and film cannot.