At Launceston’s Anzac Day dawn service, a 14-year-old boy played the spine-tingling notes of The Last Post.
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Stuart Stenton grasped his bugle, fingers unwavering in the morning chill.
The call is unmistakable and iconic, deeply entrenched in military lore and the spirit of the Anzacs.
For Stuart to perform the Last Post on such an auspicious occasion is an extension of the values that Australians hold true, and that our service men and women fight to protect.
Stuart and his family have no direct military ties. It was a love and talent for music, passed on through his parents, that saw him stand proud at the Launceston cenotaph.
Through the Australian value of egalitarianism, those from all walks of life took part in Anzac Day ceremonies around Tasmania, and the country.
Some, like Stuart, do not have defence personnel in their family. Others wore relatives’ medals on the right. Some wore their own, proudly on the left.
From all directions, they walked to the cenotaph to pay their respects. And when they walk home, they take the message of Anzac Day back into the community with them.
Captain Lisa Batchelor, former commanding officer of HMAS Harman, also spoke at the dawn service.
She said one of her favourite parts about her role was visiting schools, and sharing the message of all Australian defence personnel with young Tasmanians.
This year, the Anzac Day message seeks to inform that veterans can be anybody. Man, woman, young, old, serving and returned, army, navy, air force.
People from all corners of the community contribute to the legacy that began with the Anzacs over 100 years ago, and has been carried on by personnel since then.
The spirit lives on in our current serving members, our recently returned, and those in training. It is embodied further by the volunteers who put countless hours into organising community services for Anzac and Remembrance days.
On Anzac Day, we come together and are welcomed as individuals who all contribute to the Australian way of life.
The notes of the Last Post ring true, every day of the year. Those who perform it, hear it, and gather under it ensure that we will always remember the sacrifices that Australia is deeply grateful for.
