Reflections ANZAC Day Service at Ryde Hospital
With the hospital’s redevelopment well underway, Thursday, April 24 th , the annual ANZAC Ceremony for staff, patients and community members, the site for the service was at the front of the entrance to Ryde Hospital. While we commemorated Australia’s wartime sacrifices for peace, the hospital's exterior displayed these proud words:
PREVIOUSLY THE RYDE DISTRICT SOLIDER MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
ERECTED AS A MEMORIAL TO THOSE WHO SERVED IN THE 1914-18 GREAT WAR
TEACHING HOSPITAL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY.
There were three aspects of our ANZAC Service gathering that continues to warm my heart, the first being as with the last two years that I have attended Ryde Hospital’s ANZAC Service was the wonderful number of staff who chose to gather, offering their respects to those who have and do serve Australia in the forces. The second memory was the with the laying of wreaths. It was a delightful moment when a mother with her young children had brought with them a wreath to respect those who had sacrificed for our nation. It was a wonderful moment when the mother and children came forward to lay their wreath alongside the official wreaths that had already been laid. My third memory, the words spoken by our veteran guest speaker, sharing on behalf of the RSL. He shared with us, that in spite the horrors and costs, our young soldiers, including doctors and nurses, left our shores for lands across the seas where battles raging in 1914-18. It was love that had led them into combat. Love for their families, love for their communities and love for their nation. I give thanks for their love and pray that we may continue to honour their sacrifice by committing to live in peace with one another both here and across the globe. Let us honour those who have served our nation in the armed forces by living and working for peace. Rev Jean Bell
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