Terry Ryan is one of our wonderful life members having been actively involved at Camberwell Hockey Club for 43 years since his son and daughter started playing Minkey hockey. Over the years, Terry has been President of our club and of Indoor Hockey Victoria, a life member and past board member of Hockey Victoria and team manager to numerous Camberwell and state teams. In his words he is a “hockey tragic”.

Terry is also a proud returned serviceman, having served from 1968 to 1970 including a period of active service in Vietnam with D Company 5th Battalion (the Fighting Tigers) in the Royal Australian Regiment. He is a member of Hawthorn RSL.

We asked Terry to share some of his thoughts about ANZAC Day.

ANZAC DAY is truly about remembrance & reflection - Nationally and individually.

As a Nation

We remember the sacrifices made in wars none of us were part of, but which cost so much.

Of the conflicts in which Australia has been involved, both World War 1 and World War 2 can serve as examples of the cost that any war can inflict upon our nation.

Each of those World Wars took away almost an entire generation of predominantly, but not exclusively, men who were killed defending this country and the ideal of democracy.

We reflect on how profoundly it impacted Australia - the loss of those killed, the mental scars of war, the physical harm, the social and economic disruption setting the nation back.

Individually

For some of us, the wars of our time - Vietnam, East Timor, Afghanistan, Iraq - are very personal. We were members of the armed services deployed in these theatres of combat.

Although not on a global scale, these wars still required our armed services to be deployed against enemies that operated as guerrilla forces using the civilian populations as cover. Each of these conflicts were in support of the fragile democracies of other nations.

The danger to our service personnel was extreme, continuous and mortal. Our deployed servicemen & servicewomen saw many friends wounded or killed in battles and ambush. The impact was profound and continues to be so. Mental distress, sadness and anger whilst remaining true to the cause.

The families of those service personnel would have, by and large, felt the same; especially those who had a family member killed.

Each of these wars have similarly had a profound impact on our Nation.

Our Remembrance

the history of the sacrifices made over time nationally
those killed whom we know, and
those we know still carrying the mental and physical scars of their service.

Our Reflection

the sacrifice of our war dead comrades, and
the need to cherish our service veterans, and
the medical assistance for veterans who require it
we know the true but awful cost of preserving democracy
we did our duty as best and honourably as we could and as we were trained to do
we are proud of the contribution we have always made, and will continue to make, in the defence of our democary and that of other nations.