Anzac Day: An Old Soldier Finding Peace

Today is ANZAC day, I awoke to the sound of planes going over. According to Wikipedia Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, originally commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all those who served and died in military operations for their countries.[1][2] Anzac Day is also observed in the Cook Islands, Niue, Pitcairn, and Tonga. It is no longer observed as a national holiday in Papua New Guinea or Samoa.

My friend and I decided to go for coffee. As I was standing in line I saw a war veteran with his aussie hat, a red poppy in his lapel and two rows of medals. I said hello to him and asked him what his medals meant. He told me one was for Vietnam and the other was Malaysia, the Middle East and he named the others which I cannot recall. I asked him ‘do you think the world will find peace’? He said ‘no, although we all want it’. I said ‘why’? he said ‘because we haven’t learned to accept differences’. I told him I am a peace clown and I teach peace, I think we will by learning to accept differences and values. I wondered how he felt about a peace clown talking to him. He paid for his coffee and he smiled said goodbye and sat down alone.

I bought some coffee and cake. My friend was sitting at the table. I went to her and said ‘do you mind if I invite a digger to sit with us’? she said ‘no’. I had to smile as her T-shirt said ‘Violence brought to you by greed and ignorance.’ I thought I hope he doesn’t get offended. I do feel sensitive to the soldiers. Anyway, I went to him and said ‘would you like to sit with us’? he said ‘yes’. He was delighted. I warned him of my friend’s t-shirt and told him we are into peace.

My first impressions of this man was that he had dignity and I felt an instant connection to him. I saw clear honest eyes and values from a bygone era etched into his demeanor. We sat and talked and he told me he was lonely and living alone. I explained I wasn’t so much lonely but I moved around on my own, and knew what it was like to sit alone.

I asked him about his experience as a soldier. He told me he had been a soldier in Vietnam and Malaysia and I sense other wars. He said he had spent time trying to get over the trauma of the experience of war. I didn’t probe for details as I didn’t want to revive his pain. He said for a long time he didn’t tell anyone (40 years) and he said the problem is soldiers bottle the pain. He nearly killed himself many times as the nightmares were so intense and frequent. What saved him was finding therapy, he had been going to a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder course where he was learning how to express his feelings and heal. He felt this was very important to bring the trauma out. He said he talks to people much more openly now and is learning to express himself. I said to him I felt men don’t express themselves anyway as they are taught to not express feelings, to be seen as strong. I asked him had he heard of Byron Katie, to my surprise he said yes. He was working on his inner war and it appeared he was having some successes. He had felt the terrible pain. He said when he was a young soldier he felt he was protecting others. It seemed this was very important to him and central to his rationale that he was ding the right thing. He did not see himself as attacking others and stated that he would not kill for the sake of killing, he saw boundaries. He explained to me, ‘we were brainwashed’. He had been in the SAS, I sensed an elite soldier and had seen a great deal of action. It was after the war that the trauma began and he had been on a rollercoaster ride with life. I tried to find ways to help him to see life as an experience and we may make mistakes in our lives but that leads us to who we become today. We learn from life, some go to war, others abuse, others neglect and the list goes on.

We talked about the concept of the warrior. He said he had known the Fuzzy Wuzzies in Papua New Guinea, they were the natives there who helped the soldiers. He said he learned a lot from them in the areas of bush craft. He also spoke of the Gurkas in Nepal. He said they were very warm people. He also had a special feeling for Tibetans. He said the Chinese there didn’t smile, he indicated they were impassive, less connected to their emotions and wanted to take over. He expressed a respect for the native people, they only killed in defence not attack. Their cultures were not about killing. I recalled about warfare in Papua New Guinea and being told by a friend of mine who lived there that if they had a war and killed one person they were deeply upset and cried, feeling deep sorrow. I remember at the time thinking of the 50 million in World War II and the insanity of accepting that as creating peace. We don’t flinch at those numbers and the numbers are over 231 million now. I always remember Byron Katie saying all war should be conducted on paper. As it originates in the mind that sees an enemy to find it is oneself on reflection.

My friend and I discussed later the difference between defence and protection of others compared to intentions of attack. The original idea for fighting was based on the notion of protecting others or what became known as defence. Many militaries are overseen by Departments of Defence, the language is noteworthy. For him the intention of protection was important. What we see today in violent video games is the image of warriors or soldiers hunting down others (dominant) and killing them not in defence but as a means of attack (no mercy). Children are playing the game as the soldiers with postures of attack and the aim of winning by destroying the enemy. I felt the weakness in warfare came down to the intentions of attack rather than defence and that the support for war has declined due to the intentions of war being often recognised as further economic interests or extensions of power rather than as a means of protecting freedom. Hence virtues were no longer a feature, the role modelling today is winning not honour.

He told me that he had been visiting primary schools talking to children about the violence of war. I realised he was a peacemaker and was trying to share his experience with kids, lest they forget. He was concerned about children and the bullying in schools. He saw violence in the community and he said he spoke to the kids and some piped up and said he had been fighting as a justification for them fighting. I sat thinking about the example of soldiers to children, but what was good was a real soldier speaking to them with the idea of creating peace and advocating for non violence. We spoke of boys and the lack of role models for them and how they attach to the idea of warriors without understanding initiation into manhood through facing fear not killing others. My friend raised the fact that fathers were not there for their children, as had been in her experience. He did sit up and say he told his own children about his experience as a soldier and engaged them in discussion. He felt he had been a good father.

I told him I had clowned with Veterans and he suggested I could do work with them as he felt my universal values could help them. We talked about nationalism and I told him I saw myself as a universal citizen. When I travelled the world I felt each country was my own and I tired to break down my inner national barriers. I thought he was nationalistic and to my surprise he indicated he liked that. He asked me why I wasn’t nationalistic. I said I love my country (the land) but see myself as a steward, I don’t see myself as Australian as I don’t identify with the power structures. I said the notion of mateship and drinking I didn’t identify with as a woman. I said Australians are popular overseas and I like other Australians (all shapes and colours) but I don’t fly the flag. My friend piped in and said she didn’t like the flags. I explained that Australians are not very patriotic, which for the most part is true. In Perth I did see on Australia Day a few more flags than usual, but in other cities across Australia we don’t feel it strongly. As children at school, we used to sing to the national anthem with the picture of the Queen in the background but didn’t feel allegience to the British. Perhaps the older generation do but the younger ones don’t. I said my parents were not nationalistic they were more humanitarian. Australia is multicultural as well. We don’t have a lot of political propaganda or national rhetoric on t.v. which I think is a good thing. He spoke of the Americans by contrast and felt they were very focussed on the US.

He then spoke of Vietnam and said that the Americans tended to go on patrol in groups of 200 whereas the Aussies would go in groups of 6. He said the Americans made a lot of noise and smoked marajuana and that is why they got shot (drawing attention). He said he felt they believed that being from the US they were invincible. I said to him that Afghanistan and Iraq may have changed that belief.

He asked me if I knew what digger meant. I had written it in poetry but I didn’t know for sure. He said they were the diggers in the mines. I had said that in poetry tongue in cheek but that was where the name came from according to this gentleman.

I told him I had travelled Australia and that I had a deep respect for indigenous people. I wasn’t sure if he was interested and again to my surprise he told me of the great respect he held them in and how appallingly they had been treated. I felt our people hadn’t understood the mystical qualities and resilience of these people combined with their extraordinary knowledge. We both agreed it had been sad to see them struggling with alcohol and drugs, their communities falling apart. I felt it was because our culture was toxic and many people in the white culture struggled with society. I imagined after 40,000 years living a clean and healthy life that our society would be confusing and difficult to adapt to. They are an amazing people. He then told me his best friend from a young age was a full blood aborigine. He said they went everywhere together. They joined the army and were inseparable. He said his dear friend was shot on the battlefield and he carried him off. I felt deeply for him. He said he was respected by the elders of the aboriginal community and he could have helped with the dispute over buying aboriginal land. We spoke of the dispute and my feeling was for the indigenous not to sell the land. I said to him when we learn to love others they become like a brother or sister. His friend was his brother and that is what love enables one to see.

He felt we had to get away from the idea of enemy and learn to deal with differences. I remembered Scott Ritter saying a weakness in his country was not understanding other cultures and just going in there. Gungho comes to mind. There are many lessons to be learned I feel and open dialogue is one of the ways.

We both talked about how wonderful it was for a soldier and couple of peace people coming together to discuss these issues. Never for one moment did I see him as the ‘other’. I saw a lovely old man who I wished to learn from. He saw friendly women who had different experiences. He was very open with his views and we felt if only society could be open about all problems and issues, then we can problem solve together.

My friend commented on his poppy which is usually worn on Armistice Day (her birthday). She said it was given to him by a child, which he wore proudly. He heard a young man speak at the ANZAC parade and he said many old veterans had tears in their eyes. He and I both felt young people could lead the way. He was so surprised at how articulate this young man was. I just felt confirmed in my belief about young people.

My friend told me about those who don’t remember history are condemned to repeat it. She said the motto of ANZAC day was ‘lest we forget’.

Today was a day that I won’t forget and found peace with an old man with wise eyes and a dignified presence. I felt a priviledge in meeting this old man. I shook his hand in deep respect and friendship and he thanked us for inviting him. We hoped he would have a great day and he said it has been wonderful so far. I felt the joy in his words and knew we had touched his heart, as he touched ours.

So with that I will not forget the bravery and courage of old soldiers, the ones who went to war out of duty and an noble intention to protect. My wish for the future is that war is no longer needed, as we learn conflict resolution, expression of feelings and we talk as an open society about our successes and failures in a forum from which we all learn peace and happiness. That is my wish.