PO Box 789, Mudgeeraba  Qld  4213, Tel (07) 5525 3536

Anzac Day Address 2010

Elsie Laver Park

by

Captain Kate Rose

Cdr Franklin, Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

We always seem to speak on Anzac day about the ones who never came back; these fallen comrades are without doubt the ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice. It made me wonder about the modern day Anzac and what it means to the current servicemen and women in Iraq, Afghanistan and Timor. History has seen a change in the levels of attrition from the world wars this country has been through, and thankfully so, and those fallen in conflict will always be our beloved hero’s; entombed on the nations soul.

But today I would like to inspire you about what the modern Anzac legend means to me. I doubt that C.W Bean was reporting about the issues I will refer. For me Anzac is about the soldier that has returned. For we can still mourn and grieve for our fallen service personnel, but in reality their pain has ended. The modern Anzac’s are the soldiers amongst you right now. These are the returned servicemen and women from all conflicts over last century who suffered injuries, and many of them nearly did give that ultimate sacrifice, but due to the wonders of advanced modern combat medicine, they have survived and are now well again and living amongst us.

But how well are these soldiers now? How many veterans do you know with amputations, blindness, deafness, brain damage, or worse??  

I say worse , for it is the physical injuries that when seen, are mainly responsible for evoking the feelings that we all share today. But it is the injuries that we cannot see, that don’t get mentioned on days like today, that are somehow a secret trauma, the trauma that a veteran has to live with daily, that we will never see, or understand, unless the time is taken to listen to these individuals, to let them talk…to give them the time to heal.

 I am of course referring to combat stress.

And I am not talking of just the Korean or Vietnam or WW2 vets still with us today. I am talking about all soldiers, of all services, all ranks, all units, from all conflicts, all nationalities, both male and female.

In WW1 a soldier who deserted the lines due to shell shock, or combat stress was shot for desertion. These days one could argue, that combat stress is thankfully not on the same levels as WW1 and 2, but soldiers still experience it. And thankfully these days, the soldier who cannot continue to serve on the frontline for these combat stress injuries is not shot for deserting. Thankfully medical treatment here has caught up and these troops are able to receive appropriate treatment in a timely manner.

But not every soldier, both past and present, that needs help seeks it. And why is that? Because for many to say you need help is still seen as a sign of ‘weakness’, of ‘failure’, of not ‘toughing it out’.

I recently read in Times magazine last month, of a 1965 Vietnam vet who set himself on fire whilst holding his baby daughter. He did this in protest for the way in which veterans were treated on return from Vietnam and the traumas he suffered that pushed him to the brink. His daughter survived; unfortunately he did not. Again thankfully this type of event does not occur as a means of protest today. But those families here with Vietnam veterans will know of the traumas that I refer to.

I was sent to Iraq in 2004 with the British Army. You may recall the scene’s on TV of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. The man on that box, hooded with the wires on his hands. It was during this period that I served near Basra. We worked through the time of the rise of Muqtada  as-sada and the Mahdi army in Baghdad.

Iraq was an immensely tiring and stressful experience; working long arduous days under intense pressure, when lives literally depended on our decisions, our interpreting skills, and our assessment of an interview. These individuals lives were in my situation, civilians; men, women and children who had been arrested and detained at her majesty’s pleasure. This type of stress was constant for months.

For others, it was the stress of constant patrolling; with each shift having very little sleep in between, the heightened strains of coming under attack while on patrol, of IEDs on the streets, on the next corner, under that dead dogs carcass over there, in that doorway, where is it gong to be next? Seeing your friends blown apart.

Then the next thing your being casi-vaced in a helicopter; arriving back at a military hospital; to be told you’ll never walk again; never to father a child. But you made it back, your friend didn’t. How’s the stress levels now?

That stress of not knowing what will happen next, the security threat and the near misses, were a common thread in many a soldiers experience when on operation. For many of past conflicts, mainly WW2, Korea and Vietnam the stress of direct combat was immense. For others that aspect was never experienced.

In fact many a soldier these days on operation never fires a weapon in anger. For us it was whether your assessment of an interview would stop an attack or not on our own troops. Did we get it right?? Will someone die because I heard something wrong?? My weapons were the words I used and heard.

It was this information that we heard from detainee’s, that was then collated and processed into intelligence and used to deter attacks on our own troops.  But it had to be interpreted into English first. It was like having a car to drive but no key to make it start; It was our task to make the car start. As the interpreters we were the keys.

Post Traumatic Stress is a very real disorder, and affects a great many service personnel in many ways. There are many who never get diagnosed and many more who still suffer their secret in silence.

For some it is a constant battle on return from their service;…… to learn again how to react with emotion;….. how to feel safe again and not jump at loud noises;…………. how to get to sleep at night without drugs or alcohol; …………….how to stop the dreams that wake you in sweats of terror;…………… how to feel able to talk to someone about it all………..how to get out of that silent bubble you feel locked inside…….how to talk to your wife again……….how to let go of the pain and fear………….how to stop suffering in silence.

For it is very much the silent ones I speak for today. It is not ‘shameful’ to seek help for combat stress….no matter how old you are or how long ago you served.

You are not forgotten, as what you went through cannot be forgotten. What you did deserves recognition and thanks. Your efforts were not in vain.

I ask you to take some time today to reflect about these veterans, who have had to deal with some of the issues I mention; for they are in my opinion, the modern day hero’s of the Anzac legend. They are truly exceptional people.

Lest we forget.

                                  The Local Community were well represented in the Mudgeeraba ANZAC Day March.

                                                                                                                   The Sunset Service at Elsie Laver Park drew a great crowd.