Servicemen Alan Beer, Richard Ford and Justin Maher salute the parade as they return to their starting point down Cressy Street.
As the town clock crept closer to 11am on Tuesday, a large crowd began to gather kerbside along Cressy Street in Deniliquin’s CBD in anticipation of the heartfelt parade that would ensue.
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Some attended the earlier dawn service and were now present to honour the ANZACs again.
For some it was their first service of the day.
As the flashing lights of the lead police vehicle appeared and the distant sound of drums rumbled, those in attendance braced for the emotional journey to follow.
As the drums roared louder, involuntary tears trickled down a few cheeks.
It was a clear indication of an understanding of the sacrifices strangers made so that we could all find freedom in the country we call home.
The Deniliquin Army Cadets lead the parade, with war veterans following closely behind and earning the applause of those who had come to observe.
Making up the rest of the parade were local emergency services personnel, school children and members of the general public.
As they marched past, you could not help but feel the enormity that the ceremony creates for the community at large.
As the crowd gathered in front of the cenotaph, Edward River Council Mayor Peta Betts gave an opening address speaking of the core of the ANZAC spirit.
She spoke of the horrors and sacrifice that were encountered by young men and women and the symbols of courage, determination, honour and mateship that prevailed.
Mayor Betts reflected on the young men and women from surrounding areas of Deniliquin, Conargo, Blighty, Mayrung, Borooban, Pretty Pine and Wanganella who never made it home.
She extended gratitude to fellow country men and women currently serving at home and abroad to keep Australia and it’s interests safe.
“As always, you and your families are in our thoughts and we pray for your safe and speedy return,” she said, finishing with “Lest We Forget”.
Among the formalities were treasured words, familiar oaths and solemn hymns sung by the Edward River Concert Band and Sing Australia.
Deniliquin RSL Sub-branch vice president Don Ward expressed how the sons and daughters of ANZAC came forward without question, accepting gladly and understanding fully the tasks and responsibilities they were about to take on in wars, conflicts and peace keeping operating efforts.
Fr Line Abilgos, Mayor Peta Betts, Deniliquin RSL Sub-branch vice president Don Ward, Deniliquin RSL Sub-branch member Steve Fawns, Sergeant Justin Maher, Deniliquin High School captains Henry Michael and Ellie Caruso.
“The spirit of the ANZAC, courage, endurance, mateship and sacrifice infuses our sense of who we are, how we relate to each other and how we see our place in the world,” he read.
The silent audience, full of appreciation and honour, allowed the chirping of birds to be heard in between each new address.
Deniliquin High School captains Henry Michael and Ellie Caruso were invited to deliver readings and Fr Line Abilgos from St Michael’s Catholic Church led a prayer, giving thanks for the cost of freedom.
Guest speaker Sergeant Justin Maher came well prepared to address the community gathered with his own experiences of war and his thoughts of the ANZAC spirit.
After growing up in Deniliquin, Sgt Maher joined the Army and serviced in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“Deni is my home town, and my wife and I still have close ties to the town - a town I left over 20 years ago when I enlisted in the ADF,” he said.
“Each year we come together on Anzac Day to commemorate the service and sacrifice of Australians in more than a century of service to our great nation.
“We come together not to glorify war, but to commemorate and honour the more than 103,000 Australians and more than 28,000 New Zealanders who have sacrificed so much, for our freedoms and the hope of a better life.
“But more than that, Anzac Day provides and opportunity for all of us to consider the innate ANZAC spirit born on the shores of the Gallipoli Peninsula 108 years ago, and now ingrained into Australia’s national identity.”
Sgt Maher also reiterated points of characteristics like “professionalism”, “courage”, “honour”, “loyalty” and “resilience”.
Like other speakers before him, he stressed the importance of mateship, which he described as “the character trait of thinking of others more than yourself”.
“The fateful Gallipoli campaign ended after eight months with 36,000 casualties and our coming of age as a nation”, he said.
“In recent times new generations of Australians have left our shores to serve in areas like Afghanistan, Timor-Leste, Egypt, Iraq, Sudan, and the Solomon Islands.
“They serve with the same ANZAC character traits of those in generations past.
“Some have returned to Australia, broken in body or mind. Some never returned, leaving behind heartbroken families and friends.”
Sgt Maher said Anzac Day has always been an important day for him, particularly while on deployment.
“My first Anzac Day on operations was in Iraq, and nothing sends a chill down my spine more than seeing a bagpiper rising to the top of a Bushmaster Armoured car, while a Royal Airforce helicopter flew overhead and deployed flares in the early morning light,” he recalled during his address on Tuesday.
“Or the infantry mortars firing in the early dawn light to end an almost perfect southern cross displayed all over the Afghan sky.
“So, the freedoms and prosperity we now enjoy are to me all the greater, because they were born not in times of easy success, but came forged in the fire of defeat, tempered in the trials of weakness and failure, and honed through arduous campaigns in the air and across the waters and islands of the Indo-Pacific.
“The memorial that is the backdrop to this morning’s commemorations reminds us all of those who lie far from here who called Deni and this district home.
“But it also reminds us of those who returned and lived out their lives as hard-working Australians who married and built new families in modern Australia.
“It now shows the names of all who have served in the latest conflicts such as Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan and sits along the fabulous memorial to the Vietnam vets in the garden.”
Sgt Maher concluded his speech with thanks to the Deniliquin RSL Sub-branch and to those in attendance for the honour of being guest speaker.
“I’m sure that every veteran that you meet today will have a great story to tell over a few beers.”
Guest speaker Sergeant Justin Maher.
Amid a sea of medals and sprigs of rosemary pinned to chests, the service continued with The Ode and then bugler Greg Harris sounding out The Last Post and Reveille separated by a minute of silence.
Community members were invited forward to lay wreaths at the base of the cenotaph to round out the ceremony, which concluded with a march back to the town hall.
Waiting for the returning procession at the Edwardes St roundabout were servicemen Alan Beer, Richard Ford and Justin Maher - representing the Navy, Air Force and Army respectively - who saluted the parade as it passed in a heartfelt gesture of thanks.
The parade returning led by the familiar sound of the drums.
