JAKE Ferris’s pop’s picture usually hangs on the wall at home, but on Thursday, he held it proudly at the Healesville Anzac Day service for everyone to see.
Pop is his great grandfather Dennis Barrat who was with the 23rd Squadron RAF and served in Darwin and New Guinea.
Jake was one of many thousands of people who attended services in Healesville, Yarra Glen and Marysville on Anzac Day to honour those who have served, and who serve, their country in the fields of war around the world.
All generations proudly wore the medals of family members who have served, many marching with ex-servicemen and women and as members of local community groups such as emergency services, schools, scouts, guides and sporting clubs.
As a dual citizen of Australia and New Zealand, Cr Fiona McAllister spoke at the Dawn Service in Healesville and after the march at Yarra Glen reflecting on the strong bonds formed on Anzac Cove.
“Sharing Anzac Day means we look across the Tasman in a spirit of mateship and shared sacrifice, just as our soldiers did during the First World War,” she said.
She spoke of the sacrifice also of all who served in the World War II and in Korea and Vietnam saying they were a reminder that the Anzac spirit was about courage and sacrifice, and the desire for peace.
“It should only be the desire for peace that justifies sending our soldiers into the horrors of war,” she said.
