Tas: Thousands gather for Hobart dawn service

AAP General News (Australia)
04-25-2010
Tas: Thousands gather for Hobart dawn service

By Patrick Caruana

HOBART, April 25 AAP - Anzacs put the good of the nation first, sacrificing "their
tomorrow for our today", a memorial service in Tasmania has been told.

About 3000 Tasmanians stood solemnly in the wind and the cold at first light on Sunday
to mark the 95th Anniversary of Gallipoli landing.

Reverend Cyril Dann told the crowd Anzac Day was a time to think of those who had given
their lives in conflict.

"They gave the supreme sacrifice so that we may all live with freedom, peace and justice,"

he told those who braved a typical Hobart morning to gather at Hobart's Cenotaph for the
annual Anzac Day dawn service.

"They rose above notions of self for something greater than themselves.

"They gave their tomorrow for our today."

Rev Dann urged people to remember Australian troops in Afghanistan, and led a prayer
asking for their protection.

Current Australian Defence Force members and veterans stood side by side during the
simple service, which was attended by Tasmanian Governor Peter Underwood.

There was also an abundance of young people, with families huddled together to guard
against the cool winds coming from the Derwent River.

Schoolgirl Bella Donna-Jones paid tribute to her great uncle who served in the Vietnam
War, and to her great-grandmother who spent 50 years caring for veterans.

"I am the youngest of five children, my relatives died before they could tell me their
stories of war," she said.

"I wish they could've passed the stories on to me."

Ms Donna-Jones also thanked "the workers who stayed home and kept the country going"

during the First World War.

Hobart's Anzac Day Parade will begin in Macquarie Street, in the city's centre, at
11am (AEST), and make its way to the Cenotaph.

AAP pbc/tr

KEYWORD: ANZAC DAWN TAS WRAP

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