> And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore
>   The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war
> And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"

> So how's public opinion down under WRT fighting in questionable 
> wars?
> When Bogle gets performed around here, there's usually at least one 
> person with a rejoinder to the effect that of course it is good, 
> meaningful, and heroic to die horribly for a questionable cause. And 
> that was before our current set of battles...

A lot of people here question the wisdom of fighting in questionable
wars. But a lot are in favour of what involvement we have in the
present ones. Much like the US overall I imagine. (If our present
closet Marxist government lose the next election (unlikely) then there
will be more NZers fighting "questionable wars" in future.) But far
fewer question the validity of what the ANZACs did way back when at
the behest of Winstone Churchill and his incompetent chain of command.
(Had it been done "properly" it could have changed the whole course of
WW1, and with about the same resources, fwiw).

Good    http://warriordoc.com/anzac_day.htm

People here may question (as they ought) what was gained by this
specific campaign and how much value was gained from the loss of life
in both sides, but the overall value of NZ having been heavily
involved in a war half a world away is far less questioned. Even many
of those without a good sense of geography have some idea which
countries places like Ypres, Flanders and the Somme are. (I spent a
day wandering around the first 2 of these and it was far far more
moving than I could ever have expected. Nice green Belgian fields and
sun filtering woods brought to life much of what I've heard about so
often. Plus a 1916 unexploded artillery shell :-).

Not as large as it looks here
http://others.servebeer.com/temp/shell0.jpg
but just as lethal.

DONT!!! try this at home
http://others.servebeer.com/temp/shell1.jpg
No - that's not me. That's my usually slightly more sensible than this
travelling companion Rod. My wife was standing just behind me. That
shell is 87 years old :-(. We all lived.

June 1916
http://others.servebeer.com/temp/shell2.jpg

What is gratifying so many years on is that the Turks see our dead as
fallen comrades that rank alongside their own heroes and can lie at
peace in their country. They have an amazing spirit of acceptance of
those who came to invade their land. It probably helps a little that
it was 90 years ago.
But the great Kermal Mustafa Ataturk in 1934 dedicated a memorial that
reads

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives;
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.
Therefore rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies
and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side
here in this country of ours.
You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries,
wipe away your tears;
your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace.
After having lost their lives on this land they have
become our sons as well."


        RM

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