Anzac Day wreath

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32589, 24 April 1971, Page 16

Anzac Day wreath

Sir,—May I, as a former serviceman’s wife and mother of a student, beg the Students* Association to place their protest wreath (if they must) on the Cenotaph at some time other than during an Anzac ceremony? This Is an occasion very sacred to the men who came back, an occasion of remembrance of the men who fell at their sides; and for the wives and mothers an occasion of gratitude to God for the safe return of their- husbands and sorts and a time for prayerful remembrance of those who did not return. It is hard to conceive that anyone who wished to be called an adult could gate-crash on such an occasion, for gatecrashing it would be, to say the very least If the students wish to be thought mature adults, then they must behave with maturity and respect the rights of others —Yours, etc., SOLDIER'S WIFE AND STUDENT’S MOTHER. April 22, 1971.

Sir, —Only the uneducated, and the ignorant through no fault of their own, would deny that New Zealand in two World Wars fought for its existence, and that young men and women sacrificed their lives for that existence. What must we think of the educated who, knowing this, nevertheless greedily seize upon the day of sacred memory to highlight themselves as leaders in expressing what every decent person feels about war? It is at least fortunate that Anzac Day escapes further stains thanks to its distance from the usual duties of general and local body elections.—Yours, etc., A. B. CEDARIAN. April 22, 1971. (This correspondence is now closed.—Ed., “The Press.”]