‘Anzac Day at Port Melbourne‘, Noel Turnbull Blog, 25 April 2017
Noel Turnbull, a Vietnam veteran and former media and communications executive, spoke at the Anzac Day service at Port Melbourne.
Most of those young men didn’t enlist for King and Country but rather because their mates did. Many of them thought it would be an adventure – and most of them thought they better enlist as quickly as possible because it would soon be all over.
Indeed, speaking as a veteran I am very sceptical when I hear people talking about soldiers having died for their country or the flag … You fight for your unit, your mates and to stay alive.
Turnbull advocates remembering rather than commemorating, realistic scrutiny of plans for war, recognition of Indigenous warriors in the Frontier Wars, understanding of the importance of the Great War conscription plebiscites, the importance of the home front – and the need for irreverence.
Noel Turnbull mentions ‘Ataturk’s moving message’; another view on this. Noel Turnbull’s note on the Long Tan commemoration 2016 is here.