THE first movie I ever remember watching in school was Gallipoli, starring a young Mel Gibson.
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It was back in the day when primary school teachers didn't mind showing a bit of violence and parents didn't have to sign for it.
We watched Gallipoli to learn about the Anzac spirit, and what we were told was the birth of our national identity.
It was a tale of young regional Australians enlisting in the Great War and travelling to the other side of the world.
Motivation for enlisting ranged from adventure, uniform, nationalism, and anti-German propaganda.
Along the way, the characters Frank, played by Mel Gibson, and Archy, Mark Lee, lose their innocence.
Frank was a railway labourer, and his companion Archy was a young stockman.
The image at the end of the film of Archy being showered in bullets by Turkish forces at Gallipoli stayed with me since.
In just a few weeks I leave for Turkey to attend the centenary service at Anzac Cove.
I have mixed feelings about the Anzac spirit and the idea of it creating our identity.
Many feel Australians shouldn't be in Turkey on Anzac Day.
The late governor Peter Underwood described it as the "Anzac myth".
Others who have attended have told me it isn't the rite of passage they expected.
Some are greatly moved by the experience.
Turkey has shown great generosity in allowing services to be held there.
Whatever your feelings, there are important stories to be remembered.
In preparation, I've been familiarising myself with some Tasmanian "Archies".
Among the Tasmanian soldiers in the Gallipoli landing were Private Alfred Eccles, an orchardist from Launceston, and Private Frank Hudson, a 29-year-old blacksmith from Invermay.
Both died at dawn on April 25 as they scrambled from their landing craft on to the beach at Gallipoli.
They were the first Tasmanian casualties of World War 1.
Eccles and Hudson were members of C Section of the 3rd Field Ambulance.
Ironically, they were standing next to Private John Simpson, who would become the famous stretcher bearer with the donkey, when they were killed by Turkish gun fire.
It's hard to overstate Tasmania's contribution to the war.
In this month 100 years ago, 185 Tasmanians volunteered to serve.
By April 1915, another 227 had signed up.
In the end, more than 15,000 Tasmanians went to war, at a time when the state had a population of only 190,000.
It is recorded that more than 1700 put their address as Launceston and about 2500 Tasmanians died as a result of the war.
Turkey caps the attendance at Gallipoli on Anzac Day at 10,500.
More than 42,000 people applied for tickets to attend the centenary Anzac service this year.
A ballot was drawn, and 8000 Australians were given tickets, and 2000 New Zealanders.
Guests and dignitaries make up the further 500, including 250 for Turkish guests.
Only 86 Tasmanians won the ballot, and can take a guest.
It seems a small portion for Tasmania's contribution to the war, which included seven Victoria Crosses.
Whether I return with heightened patriotic feelings, or whether I decide we shouldn't be there at all, it will be the stories of Eccles and Hudson I will be remembering at Anzac Cove on April 25.
