A WONDERFUL MEMORIAL

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12464, 4 June 1926, Page 11

A WONDERFUL MEMORIAL

“OR A MERE HOLIDAY” COMMEMORATION OF ANZAC SENTIMENTS OF R.S.A. M A: iLe present generation c mnremorate Anzac Day so will the future men and women commemorate it: it will either remain as it is now—a wonderful memorial—o. it will become a mere holiday.'* This poignant reference to tlie celebration of Anzac Day is contained in the annual report of the Dominion Executive of the R.S.A., presented to conference yesterday. *Tt is part of the heritage bequeathed to ex-servicemen and women,” the report went on, ‘‘to implant in the mipds of the present and future generations a recognition of the sacredness of the sacrifice made by the fallen. ‘‘So long as those uho participated in the Great War, and those who were unable to participate, but who were of mature age at the time, insist upon strict and reverent commemoration of April 25th as New Zealand’s National ‘Memorial Day or Day of Remembrance, so ‘ong will the sacrifice made by the million men and women who gave their lives for God, King and Empire be fittingly remembered. “So long as life is spared to exservice men, the commemoration of Anzac Day must be jealously guarded. It is the one special day in the year which people of New Zealand are asked to observe as a ‘holy day’ —the one day that the people are asked to sacrifice to the memory of those who sacrificed everything in the greatest war the world has known.