I feel that this day is not just about those who did not return from war, for those who did return were forever changed. When I was a child it was my Great-Grandfather Da who took me fishing and gave me one of my first jobs sweeping floors. Da was in the British Navy and survived World War II. Yet even towards the end of his life the impact of war still lingered. Often I remember him and think about the impact war had on him and many of our family. In trying to understand my thoughts drifted across the fields of the many battles that have occurred in the last 100 years.
From this the poem Red Tears came into being.
On this day I remember Da and those like him who survived, but have had to learn to live with all that they faced in war.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIXfOMezYK1YlFuOCfoqNQ25LElR1k1Zgb8aa8geQLNYHSeafNh51Jm8HIRHx8ZQbrwzLpiY8gvrBtwhNSto5PoYID7qoNxWdvLpJiZnxamc2AJDTZbneUFT-uQlwrUFCwaWk4EArrJVA/s320/DaInUniform.jpg)
Da is the one of
the far right of
this picture.
Anzac Day by Allison Brown is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 Australia License.
Based on a work at allisonbrown.blogspot.com.