PRIDE and pain were etched on the faces of veterans among the sea of thousands of people at the Warnambool Cenotaph well before the sun came up on Anzac Day.
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It is something that is all too familiar for Adelaide’s Patrick Fitzgerald, who was at the dawn service with his wife June.
The two were visiting Warrnambool and said the service was beautiful.
“It was mindblowing,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
He served in Malaya as a 26-year-old and said Anzac Day was an emotional time for him.
“It brings up a whole lot of memories that relate to your service that only you can go through,” he said.
He said he was proud to have served his country, but has flashbacks about atrocities witnessed while serving.
“It’s devastating (what you see),” Mr Fitzpatrick said.
The couple has a son Tim who followed in his father’s footsteps and has recently returned from Iraq.
Warrnambool RSL sub-branch president John Miles told the large crowd to never forget an important few words – “we will remember them”.
This was followed by some fitting words from Warrnambool College student Matt Noonan.
He told those gathered it was important to remember the people who did not return home to receive the thanks they deserved.
“We remember those who still sleep where they were left,” he said.
A smoking ceremony was part of the dawn service for the first time in Warrnambool and Clontarf Academy student Tori Miller read a poem about Reg Saunders, the Purnim-born soldier who became first indigenous person to gain a commission in the Australian army.
“He earned his badge of honour amongst the brave khaki,” Mr Miller said.
“He is a hero.”
Brauer College student Monique Jones gave a moving rendition of a tribute to Anzacs attributed to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
“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.”
Dozens of veterans laid poppies at the war memorial before the conclusion of the dawn service.