The Press THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 1971. The spirit of Anzac

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32587, 22 April 1971, Page 12

The Press THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 1971. The spirit of Anzac

Student leaders of the University of Canterbury, who propose to use the wreath-laying ceremony on Sunday as an occasion to express their concern about the continuation of the war in Vietnam, should not need to be reminded of the significance of Anzac Day for most New Zealanders, and especially for those who lost relatives or friends in the two World Wars. For those who mourn their dead on Anzac Day this is a time of deep and private grief. They know, much better than most of the students, the human suffering caused by war; for them, any intrusion into the ceremony for other purposes is bound to seem tasteless and offensive.

No-one need question the sincerity of the students’ belief that war is an undesirable instrument of national policy, a view which would surely be endorsed by the great majority of those for whom Anzac Day is a solemn occasion. But the students already have ample opportunities for legitimate protest against war in general and the Indo-China War in particular. Anzac Day is a time of remembrance for New Zealand’s dead in war. If the students wish to share in this act of remembrance they should be made welcome; they cannot attempt to change the nature and purpose of this act without causing pain, distress, and affront to many of their fellow-citizens who have suffered far more from the consequences of war than they are ever likely to suffer.

This year the Governor-General (Sir Arthur Porritt) will be present at the Christchurch ceremony. His remarks at an Anzac Day service in Wellington a year ago are worth recalling:

Young people are acutely aware of the blatant deficiences in the lives of the world’s peoples today. They are positively orientated against the use of force as a solution to that same world’s problems and those feelings are, perhaps, accentuated by the fact that they live in a prosperous, rapidlydeveloping, happy country relatively far removed from the strife of the world and its overwhelming stresses and strains

Can we deny them the right to such feelings? Can we not actively direct the Anzac torch towards shedding more practical and positive light on the dim, contentious, tortuous paths they must perforce follow in today’s world? I believe we can . . .

Anzac Day is not held for the glorification of war; young people need not feel compelled on this day to make a statement against war in general, or against another war that former soldiers must have hoped would never be fought Older generations, whose thoughts are turned to remembrance on this day, cannot find it easier to accept the implications of the Governor-General’s question when the students’ proposed message seems so out of tune with the purpose of Anzac Day. They might well wonder why a similar wreath has not been sent to Hanoi.