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Aussie1001

Staff Sergeant
842
3
Jul 13, 2007
Queensland- Australia
Hi guys just though i bring up a topic that has been irking me for some time now...
I'm talking about respect and remberence for our diggers that went away in times of need and fought so we could remain free.
A good example for instance is when one girl in my class asked me last week which world war Gallopoli was in.....
that reall made me embarrassed that someone could not remember one of Australias proudest and most sorrow moments, proud because for the first time Australia proved on an international scale the legacy of the diggers spirit, the spirit of mateship. And sorrow at the military balls up it was and the number of young diggers lost when Australia was still a fledgeling nation.

now i am not just dedicating this thread to the Aussies everyone from any country is invited to speak up about the amout of knowledge and respect that they think the younger generations of their respective countries have for the sacrifices made by their forefathers....
reguads
Michael...
 
Your direction is valid but its not so much a lack of respect.

Currently the concentration of Australian history in school is very limited if not at all. I can say that without a doubt as I have just finished. I don't believe in ramming it down younger people's throats as such as that will turn them off for good. Education is needed though, not so much to be greatful but just to at least understand.

We owe them a lot no question, but you cannot respect something you don't know.

Cheers
 
Well, Britain obviosuly had it's remembrance day on Sunday 11th November ... and it was unfortunate to see so little people wearing their poppy with pride. Some disgraceful chavs even tore one up, and I heard some of the retards call me disrespectful because I'm not old enough to wear one.
My workplace didn't even sell poppies, and I [of course] kicked up a big fuss about it.

The education is not there ... and there is a lot of disrespect in this world.
 
Aussie101: I mean no dis-respect, but you Aussies have a language all
your own. What is "a digger" ? You also use the term, "balls up". I am proud
to call some of the Aussies on the forum, "Mate", and feel honored when they
refer to me in the same term. There are other terms, also. Don't get me
wrong, I enjoy the way you lads talk, but sometimes you lose me.

And... I'm not suggesting you change....

Charles
 
A "digger" is an Australian. And a "balls up" is a mistake, a big mistake... like a f*ck up.
 
I think this is a world wide issue. WWI is only a footnote and WW2 is hardly talked about in public schools. Our schools are not focused on the issues of history but how to include everyone and not make anyone feel bad. Nov 11 is nothing but a holiday or a sale at the local mall.

DBII
 
Yup all of you seem to share me views, good to see. On the other hand its unforunate that things like WW2 are really spoken about properly to the younger current generations.

I'm one of the few who have grandparents and or other members who faught in WW2. Distance between generations is also a factor, time dulls the impact of it all I think.

Disrespect comes from lack of understand and appreciation. Last year my class touched on the Holocaust for a few weeks. I found it satisfying to see the shock on some of my peers faces. I'm not out to preach to them but the fact they were shocked proved they understood enough.
 
that post there reminds me of a story I read in the paper of people smashing a statue of a digger at the local war memorial a day before rememberance day. needless to say I was disgusted.
 
Hmmm, dare I suggest that Oz appears to be going through the time that we endured during the sixties when anything to do with remembrance was 'uncool', passé, unhip or whatever the current vernacular is.

I have to say that, more recently, the majority of the younger generation are 'remembering' and are proud to. There has been a resurgence in the observation of the 2 minutes' silence and my daughter's school pursued a series of WWI II topics. They were always respectful of those generations that did their duty and what they endured. Moreover, the students themselves were very proud to wear their poppies and, more importantly, understood what they represented. They had no truck with the movement that supported the introduction of white poppies.

Importantly, the students were prepared to stand up to those few teachers (who all seemed to hail from the era mentioned in para 1 above!) who attempted to re-write history and denigrate accomplishments of "that generation". I was pleased to see her counter, in a History paper, the usual Lefty contention that the use of the A bombs was immoral and barbaric. She extrapolated anticipated loss figures of Allied and Japanese troops and Japanese civilians that might have been expected if a 'conventional' invasion of the Japanese home islands had been required and made the obvious point. The CND badge-wearing teacher was also less than impressed with a clause comparing casualties at Tokyo with Hiroshima, illustrating that it is apparently OK to firebomb cities, but to nuke them was somehow unacceptable. Needles to say the teacher only gave her a D! (Those students who 'followed the Lefty Line' got As and A*s, of course!)

Each generation has its mindless morons, with idiot names: currently "Chavs", previously "Punks", "Mods", "Rockers", "Teddy Boys" and there is little that one can do about them. However, IMHO they are a minority and we, the silent majority, mustn't become paranoid about them. Nonetheless, I won't be responsible for my actions IF I catch them in the act!!!!!
 
You're lucky to be living in York, it's a great city of Britain - the best, in my opinion. Unfortunately for me, I live in a place where Chavs practically rule the roost and remembrance day is forced upon my town. It came close to not happening a few years ago.

Nov. 11 is never a day off in Britain - I worked it, and it was a sunday this year. The British government would never allow a day off for its over-worked workforce for some petty reason as remembering the people that kept them in power as a democracy.

The turn-out in London is still large every year, thankfully, and I do tune in every year to watch the heroes of all conflicts walk by the Cenotaph.

And white poppies ... !!! Aren't opium poppies white!?!

As for the Aussie language, it's okay we British understand what you're all saying ... since it's practically the same slang in both lands.
 
Here in Kii land the respect is growing from the younger generation. The annual ANZAC dawn parades are seeing a growing number of younger people attending.

I was proud to march this year to the memorial as a "double hatter", wearing my Fire Brigade dress uniform, with my old unit badge in the pocket.

For your info a "Digger" is a reference to an Australian Soldier" not just any Australian.

Also the term was first used in WWI by British Soldiers to describe the Maori Pioneer Battalion from New Zealand as they were about the best Diggers in the trenches. The Aussies "borrowed" the term.

At the start of WWII Maori leaders convinced the Govt of the day that Maori were more use fighting than digging trenches, thus the 28th Maori Battalion was born.
 
See here for the term "Digger" Frequently asked questions - FAQ 1 - 50
As to the original question, I believe that the respect from young people in this country in growing. Look at the number of young people that fly half way around the world to spend ANZAC day at Gallipoli, it's in the order of 15-20 000. Look at the record numbers at the ANZAC day marches. I wouldn't be too worried about the minority number of morons who don't care or don't know ant better.
 
I'm pleased to see that i have collected a wide array of opinions in this matter and i'm happy to say that i don't disagree with any of them,
Heinz we did the holocaust earlier this year and i also saw the shock on their face, I mean everyone knows hitler but fewer know how many suffered and perished under his regime.
As for thoes who graffitied that memorial i'd like to introduce them to the buisness end of an air rifle, don't kill em but give them some respectable bruises !!!
Ignorent F*ckers no respect what so ever.
 
Aussie, you brought up something I wasn't aware of and I share your sentiments but....

I think its a world wide condition for each country's young generation and it stems from agenda driven idiots who want to re-write history and then lose the meaning.

Example: A few years ago the 'Enola Gay' was going to be featured in a display about the atomic bomb here in the US. Revisionist groups wanted also to protray how it slaughtered Japanese. It eventually ended up as just a footnote and a small disply. Now how is any young mind going to grasp the meaning and have respect for something when it can't be explained in plain talk? There has got to be an honest, open approach to history education without any white-washing for young'ens to understand. They can pass on their school bus a VFW building with the Sherman tank out front everyday but they'll never understand what it means.
 
I think now the consensus is education however war is too scary for kids so lets just forget about it. Everyone can go to school and feel warm and fuzzy.
 
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