ANZAC Day 2026 – A Reflection from the Moderator, Rev David Jackson CSM
Anzac Day is a very important day in Australia, and it is also an important day for my family and for myself.
My family along with many of those in our community had members who served with distinction in many conflicts, war-like service and peace-keeping missions around the world and on our own shores as well with the bombing of Darwin and Broome by the Japanese in World War 2.
There are monuments scattered in just about every community around Australia. These are reminders to us of the sacrifices few have made for the many.
ANZAC Day is important for me personally as I have led many ANZAC Day services whilst I was an Army Chaplain in places of conflict around the world. Those services are rich with meaning and emotion for everyone in uniform sporting the Rising Sun, especially on deployment.
ANZAC Day is a day to reflect, and remember with pride, the ANZAC’s and the ANZAC spirit that was first forged at Gallipoli 111 years ago. It is a day where we pay tribute to all those who have served. We particularly remember those who have made the supreme sacrifice of their own lives in all wars, up to and including Afghanistan.
We must never forget them.
There is a mateship amongst service people. A mutual respect, a bond, and a selfless dedication to proudly serve our country when required. We should be very proud of our highly trained and professional defence force.
There have been occasions when that pride has been sorely tested by those who have acted without professionalism and brought discredit on the uniform we wear. One of the values we hold dearly is taking responsibility for our actions. If anyone acts outside that standard, they will be held to account and face the consequences of their actions.
I’m very aware of how fortunate I have been to serve my country in the Australian Army. I am here today because of what my service taught me as a young person: service to others over self; to be the best person I can be; teamwork; that character is more important than just about any other quality of soldiering.
When I served, I was taught that character is described as those qualities of a person that are positive and constructive for the person, their family and their community. The Army values are Courage, Initiative, Teamwork and Respect. Each of the services have their own set of values but there are common threads.
I joined the Army at 37 years of age and served until I was 66. During that time, I was deployed on operational tours in Bougainville, Timar Leste, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Each of those deployments was special in one way or another but a couple of stories illustrate why I felt so privileged to serve:
I was with the Special Forces Task Group in Afghanistan in 2005 in Tarin Kott in Oruzgan province. A suicide bomber had blown himself up in the town market and the injured were rushed to our compound.
In our medical facility we had a crack US Surgical Team with Orthopaedic Surgeons, anaesthetists and more. Everyone pitched in to help. The most serious of the cases were on stretchers outside because they would not be able to be saved.
Our Australian soldiers sat beside these, mostly children, holding their hands, wetting their drying lips with drops of water as they lay unconscious taking their last breaths. The compassion of these soldiers and their humility I will never forget – it was remarkable to witness.
The other was again in Taran Kott in the Seal Team’s Role 2 Medical facility in 2012. A 12-year-old boy lay in a bed with his uncle and father seated either side of him. I was visiting the hospital and the young boy proudly lifted up the bed sheet covering him to reveal his stumps. He had been blown up by a land mine and he had to have both his legs amputated.
He and his family were so grateful and thankful that their boy’s life was spared.
Every ANZAC Day, I reflect on these experiences, and I am so very grateful of the character of our service men and women who give of themselves selflessly for the greater good of humankind.
Many servicemen and women did not survive, and others have suffered due to their service. Warfare is cruel and unforgiving. No aspect of people’s lives is un-affected. We are fortunate that our current service personnel are so highly trained, prepared to take the risks, and committed to serving their country when asked to do so.
Serving in the military means making friends for life. There is a lasting bond with those who have served, and ANZAC Day is the day to appreciate each other’s company, reminisce and remember those who are not with us today.
We should all be very grateful that we live in this lucky country of ours.
This should never be taken for granted.
Now as a grandfather, I have great faith in today’s youth to continue the traditions of ANZAC Day. Hopefully they will not need to be tested as many have had to be in times past, but should they be called upon to wear the uniform may they know that they stand in a hallowed fellowship of brothers and sisters in arms who have fought and died to defend the peace and the freedom we now enjoy.
As our saviour Christ reminds us through the giving of his own life in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that they lay down their life for their friends”
And we are all friends!
Rev David Jackson CSM
Moderator, Uniting Church WA
ANZAC Day Prayer – Uniting Church in Australia
As Australia pauses to mark ANZAC Day, Army Chaplain and Uniting Church Minister Rev Matthew Stuart invites us into a space of remembrance shaped by honesty, lament and hope.
Click below to go the UCA Assembly website for Rev Matthew Stuart’s prayer and video message.
