Memorial Day Weekend

[NZ421291]

Originally Posted by Cincy2

+1 I make it a point to watch the movie "Patton" every Memorial Day so I never forget the horror.

Cincy

In New Zealand & Australia we have ANZAC Day (Australia & New Zealand Army Corps) on the 25th April every year- it's our Memorial Day (and a public holiday).

Its done differently in NZ from Australia. In Austrailia, it's more of a celebration, in NZ it's very much a day of remembrance- no celebration. In NZ only the dead are on War Memorials, In Australia, everyone who served is on theirs. All Australian soldiers were volunteers, 80% of NZ Soldiers were conscripted, maybe that's why we do it differently?

I think both ways are acceptable IMHO.

On ANZAC Day, we go to the Dawn Parade at the Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph, then go through the Museum. We find the names of our relatives on the walls of remembrance & stick a poppy next to the name- 10 dead in our immediate family is 10 too many (1 killed in the Boer War, 2 in World War 1, the rest in WW2).

If you want to know more about the different ways NZ & Australia view ANZAC Day, I can recommend this book: The ANZAC Experience https://mch.govt.nz/anzac-experience...topher-pugsley