THE cries of scores rainbow lorikeets and even a solitary kookaburra punctuated an otherwise still morning at Richmond Oval, as the Richmond RSL Sub-Branch hosted its Anzac Day dawn service.
An estimated crowd of up to 2000 people assembled in front of the Richmond War Memorial at 5am to mark the 102nd year since the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps assaulted the beach at Anzac Cove.
Veterans proudly displayed their medals, which they won fighting to defend freedom and Australia, and indeed world peace, as a number of the speeches made at the service touched upon.
Many wreaths were laid on behalf of prominent community figures, organisation, businesses, and, of course, the armed services at the foot of the war memorial.
The cries of the birds again intertwined as the bugler played the Last Post, before the crowd, although not the birds, bowed their heads for a moment of silence to reflect upon those who have died or been injured fighting for Australia.
Afterwards, veterans were invited back to the RSL Sub-Branch in West Market Street for breakfast, while the Richmond Lions Club put on a barbecue for the general public next to the grandstand at Richmond Oval.
Dave Oliphant, an American veteran of several conflicts, said he enjoyed the service and had been to many since becoming a citizen of Australia.
Oliphant and his son Zack, who was an Air Force cadet at one time, said they both enjoyed how Australians acknowledged the role Turkey, whose shores the Anzacs invaded in 1915, played in the war.
“One of the things about Anzac Day that has always kind of struck me is that in all the different military commemorations in the world, never do you hear anything about the enemy,” Zack said.
They said it was something they had not seen other countries, including America, do.
