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In this issue:Issue – 5 – 2012

• Aussie veterans return to battlegrounds 70 years on
• Gallipoli 2015 – There’s still time to have your say
• DVA services over the holiday season
• More DVA services available online in December
• Remembrance Day 2012
• Thousands participate in Veterans’ Health Week 2012
• Want to get your Vetaffairs newspaper faster?
• Want more DVA news?
• Recent Publications
• Media Releases

Aussie veterans return to battlegrounds 70 years on

Two groups of Australian veterans made the memorable journey back to the countries where they fought 70 years ago in the Second World War.

In late October, 21 veterans from across the country left Sydney bound for Egypt to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein and the campaigns in North Africa and Syria.

In early November a further eight veterans departed for Papua New Guinea (PNG) to mark the 70 years since the battles of Kokoda and the Beachheads.

Visit the DVA website to find out about the veterans’ experiences and retrace their journey back to PNG and North Africa.

Gallipoli 2015 – There’s still time to have your say

Australians around the country have shared their thoughts on how the nation should be represented on Anzac Day at Gallipoli in 2015.

If you haven’t had a chance to have your say – there’s still time.

Community forums are continuing throughout November, and you can complete the online survey by visiting the Gallipoli 2015 website before 30 November 2012.

DVA services over the holiday season

With Christmas just around the corner, DVA wishes to advise that all offices will be closed over the holiday season from Tuesday 25 December 2012 to Tuesday 1 January 2013 inclusive. The Department will re-open for normal business on Wednesday 2 January 2013.

During this time, many important services will still be available to the veteran community:

• Crisis counselling – VVCS – Veterans and Veterans Families Counselling Service offers 24-hour crisis counselling through Veterans’ Line, call (toll free) 1800 011 046. This service is also available outside business hours everyday.
• Transport – if you haven’t booked your transport before the Christmas period, please pay up front and seek reimbursement from DVA later. Alternatively, if you have registered withMyAccount you can book and claim travel expenses online, anytime.
• Hospital admissions – doctors can admit DVA patients into hospital and then request admissions approval, where required, when DVA offices re-open.
• Defence Service Homes Insurance – help with policy and claim enquiries is available 24-hours a day on 1300 552 662, and payments can be made on 1300 304 989 or via the DSH website.

Pension payments will be made on the usual days during the period of reduced services.  For more information visit the DVA website.

More DVA services available online in December

Over 6500 veterans and family members are already using DVA’s new online service MyAccount. From December more services will be made available including downloading your pension statements and concession letters, as well as submitting and tracking feedback to DVA.

Currently via MyAccount you can book transport to medical appointments, view information about payments and concession cards, lodge travel claims (VEA only), change contact details and view the status of claims.

More services are being added every six months for the next three years.

To register or find out more, visit the MyAccount website, or phone 133 254 or 1800 555 254 (from regional Australia).

Remembrance Day 2012

On Sunday, 11 November 2012 at 11am, Australians will pause for a moment’s silence to remember all those who have served our nation.

Remembrance Day marks the anniversary of the armistice which ended the First World War (1914–18). Over 416,000 Australians enlisted for service, with more than 60,000 losing their lives on the Western Front, at Gallipoli, in the Middle East, at sea and in the air.

As we reflect on those fallen in past wars and conflicts, it is also important to honour the contribution of those who continue to serve Australia today, and reflect on the tragic loss of personnel in recent times.

Visit the DVA website for a range of resources to help plan a Remembrance Day ceremony and to find out what is happening across the country. Make sure you wear a red poppy and pause for a moment of reflection this Remembrance Day.

Thousands participate in Veterans’ Health Week 2012

Veterans’ Health Week 2012 ran from 22 to 28 October involving a record 12,000 veterans, war widows and widowers, family and friends taking part in over 170 events around Australia.

One highlight was the Veterans’ Gardening Workshops in Tasmania which featured the well-known former ABC-TV presenter, Peter Cundall.

To see photos of the workshop and other Veterans’ Health Week activities around Australia visit DVA’s Flickr page.

 

(Photo provided by Magnolia Photography & Printing)

Want to get your Vetaffairs newspaper faster?

Make the switch to receiving the Vetaffairs newspaper online! You no longer have to wait to receive a hard copy of Vetaffairs.

To receive an online version of Vetaffairs instead of the hard copy, complete a request for an electronic version of Vetaffairs newspaper form.

Want more DVA news?

Follow DVA on Twitter and Facebook for regular updates of all DVA activity

• Twitter
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Recent Publications

• Mental Health and Wellbeing after Military Service booklet
• Vetaffairs
• MHPE magazine
• Australian Remembrance Trail along the Western Front brochure

It is that time of year again when at the 11th Hour on the 11th Day of the 11th Month, we remember the sacrifice of all Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen who have served and those who have sacrificed their lives in the defence of our Nation.

The Great War, as World War I became known was thought to be the war to end all wars at the time.  Compiègne Forest where the armistice was signed in a railway carriage in France, was the scene of jubilation in WWII when Adolf Hitler did a victory dance at the same spot following the success of the  German armies Blitzkrieg in 1940.

On September 7th 1920, in strictest secrecy four unidentified British bodies were exhumed from temporary battlefield cemeteries at Ypres, Arras, the Asine and the Somme. None of the soldiers who did the digging were told why. The bodies were taken by field ambulance to GHQ at St-Pol-sur-Ternoise. There the bodies were draped with the Union Flag. Sentries were posted and Brigadier-General Wyatt and a Colonel Gell selected one body at Random. A French honour guard was selected, who stood by the coffin overnight. In the morning of the 8th a specially designed coffin made of oak from the grounds of Hampton Court was brought and the Unknown Warrior placed inside.

On top was placed a Crusaders Sword and a shield on which was inscribed ‘A British Warrior who fell in the Great War 1914-1918. For King and Country’. On the 9th of November the Unknown Warrior was taken by horse drawn carriage through Guards of Honour and the sound of tolling bells and bugle calls to the Quayside. There it was saluted by Marshall Foche and loaded onto HMS Verdun bound for Dover…..The coffin stood on the deck covered in wreaths and surrounded by the French Honour Guard. On arrival at Dover the the Unknown Warrior was greeted with a 19 gun salute, normally only reserved for field marshals. He then traveled by special train to Victoria station London. He stayed there overnight and on the morning of the 11th of November he was taken to Westminster Abbey.

The Idea of the Unknown Soldier was thought of by a Padre called David Railton who had served at the front during the Great War and it was the Union Flag he used as an altar cloth at the front, that had been draped over the coffin. The intention was that all relatives of the 517,773 combatants whose bodies had not been identified could believe that the Unknown Warrior could very well be their lost Husband, Father, Brother or Son….

The Tomb of our Unknown Soldier is buried in Canberra, at the Australian War Memorial and not only on Remembrance Day, remember the men and women of the Australian Defence Force by holding your hand over your heart in recognition that we all hold our respect for their sacrifices made for our great Nation.

The tradition of holding our hand on our heart should be observed by all Australians, not just servicemen, as it is in recognition of the Unknown Soldier, buried to represent all soldiers unable to be identified or found. During the internment of the Unknown Soldier in Westminster Abbey, the guard of honour was made up of 100 recipients of the Victoria Cross and the guests of honour were a group of about one hundred women chosen because they had each lost their husband and all their sons in the war. Every recipient of the Victoria Cross held their hands, not over their heart, but over their medals, hiding them in recognition that their deeds of valour were indeed nothing in comparison to the sacrifice of those who had laid down their lives.

“Lest we Forget” 

Her hair was up in a pony tail,
Her favorite dress tied with a bow.
Today was Daddy’s Day at school,
And she couldn’t wait to go.

But her mommy tried to tell her,
That she probably should stay home.
Why the kids might not understand,
If she went to school alone.

But she was not afraid;
She knew just what to say.
What to tell her classmates
Of why he wasn’t there today.

But still her mother worried,
For her to face this day alone.
And that was why once again,
She tried to keep her daughter home.

But the little girl went to school
Eager to tell them all.
About a dad she never sees
A dad who never calls.
There were daddies along the wall in back,
For everyone to meet.
Children squirming impatiently,
Anxious in their seats

One by one the teacher called
A student from the class.
To introduce their daddy,
As seconds slowly passed.

At last the teacher called her name,
Every child turned to stare.
Each of them was searching,
A man who wasn’t there.

‘Where’s her daddy at?’
She heard a boy call out.
‘She probably doesn’t have one,’
Another student dared to shout.

And from somewhere near the back,
She heard a daddy say,
‘Looks like another deadbeat dad,
Too busy to waste his day.’

The words did not offend her,
As she smiled up at her Mom.
And looked back at her teacher,
Who told her to go on.

And with hands behind her back,
Slowly she began to speak.
And out from the mouth of a child,
Came words incredibly unique.

‘My Daddy couldn’t be here,
Because he lives so far away.
But I know he wishes he could be,
Since this is such a special day.

And though you cannot meet him,
I wanted you to know.
All about my daddy,
And how much he loves me so.

He loved to tell me stories
He taught me to ride my bike.
He surprised me with pink roses,
And taught me to fly a kite.

We used to share fudge sundaes,
And ice cream in a cone.
And though you cannot see him.
I’m not standing here alone.

‘Cause my daddy’s always with me,
Even though we are apart
I know because he told me,
He’ll forever be in my heart’
With that, her little hand reached up,
And lay across her chest.
Feeling her own heartbeat,
Beneath her favorite dress.
And from somewhere here in the crowd of dads,
Her mother stood in tears.
Proudly watching her daughter,
Who was wise beyond her years

For she stood up for the love
Of a man not in her life.
Doing what was best for her,
Doing what was right.

And when she dropped her hand back down,
Staring straight into the crowd.
She finished with a voice so soft,
But its message clear and loud.

‘I love my daddy very much,
he’s my shining star.
And if he could, he’d be here,
But heaven’s just too far.

You see he is an Aussie soldier
And died just this past year
When a roadside bomb hit his convoy
And taught Australians to fear.

But sometimes when I close my eyes,
it’s like he never went away.’
And then she closed her eyes,
And saw him there that day.

And to her mothers amazement,
She witnessed with surprise.
A room full of daddies and children,
All starting to close their eyes.

Who knows what they saw before them,
Who knows what they felt inside.
Perhaps for merely a second,
They saw him at her side.

‘I know you’re with me Daddy,’
To the silence she called out.
And what happened next made believers,
Of those once filled with doubt.

Not one in that room could explain it,
For each of their eyes had been closed.
But there on the desk beside her,
Was a fragrant long-stemmed rose.

And a child was blessed, if only for a moment,
By the love of her shining star.
And given the gift of believing,
That heaven is never too far.