THE Soldiers Memorial in Vanisartt Park has marked an incredible milestone, turning 100 on Saturday.
A service was held on the weekend to mark the occasion, but with a different look to a normal commemoration.
During each part of the service, those present were taken through the history of each part of the service and why they were so important for remembering the fallen.
Mount Gambier RSL president Bob Sandow said the celebrations marked 100 years of the memorial and was a good opportunity to educate people around the significance of remembrance services.
“When we do things on ANZAC Day, Remembrance Day, Vietnam Veterans Day, whatever day, we go through a set way that we do the memorial, I just wanted a community to know why we do some things,” he said.
“It’s historical information that we need to make sure that we don’t lose.
“Some of that stuff goes back to year 1400 and it’s not something I dreamed up, it’s the way we do things. And without those values and traditions, we don’t have anything.”
RSL SA president Cheryl Cates said services were important to commemorate memorials that honour servicemen and women.
“They’re very important to our RSL and for the communities in particular, and returned service personnel who have been there and done that and come back, and who can commemorate the lost and the fallen and those people who have gone out from the local towns like we have,” she said
“You go back to World War One or the Boer War, most of them are not from the cities.
“They’re all the farmers and from the land and everything, and I think it’s very significant that the RSL continues to pay respect and commemorate those people.”
Millicent RSL president Chris Mathias said it was important for families and children to know their family history and honour that.
“ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day are for families, not just the whole community, but family is a particularly exciting focus point to remember,” he said.
“In country towns, like where I come from down the road at Millicent, we have a lot of families of deceased veterans who come there wanting to know more about their relatives who never spoke of war.
“So we do a bit of research for them, tell them about the military history of their relatives, and it gives them more meaning when they come to the services.”
He said more young people were taking an interest in commemorative services.
“We’ve noticed that for the last five or six years, we’re getting more and more people to services, particularly younger ones,” he said.
“You’ll find a lot of the local RSL sub branches are getting into the schools leading up to ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day and actually talking to the students about the relevance of it.”
