The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Australia marked 25 years since its military deployment to Afghanistan with a solemn ceremony at the Australian War Memorial on Sunday, honoring the more than 35,000 Australians who served during the country’s longest war and remembering the 47 Australian military personnel who died.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, opposition leader Angus
Taylor, former prime ministers and military veterans attended the ceremony in
Canberra, where speakers reflected on the lasting cost of the conflict for
service members, their families and a generation of Australians who lived
through two decades of war.
The service also highlighted the experiences of those who
returned home with physical and psychological wounds, as well as families whose
loved ones never came back.
“Families hoped every day that their partner, parent, child
or sibling would return safely,” said Janny Poate, whose son, Private Robert
Poate, was killed during the conflict.
“We remember those families and loved ones who experienced
the overwhelming loss of a family member who never came home and those who have
suffered loss since,” she said.
“The empty places that remain and the grief that fills that
space has become part of the everyday life for these families, including my
own.”
Australia deployed forces to Afghanistan in 2001 under
Operation Slipper, joining a multinational military campaign launched after the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. Over the following two
decades, more than 35,000 Australians served in Afghanistan or in supporting
roles elsewhere in the Middle East.
Forty-seven Australian Defence Force personnel died and 263
were wounded as a result of their service in Afghanistan.
Australian War Memorial Director Matt Anderson said the
experiences of those who served varied widely, shaped by the places they were
deployed, the people they encountered and the circumstances they faced.
“Every person who served there experienced a different
Afghanistan,” Anderson said.
“Some of you saw the very worst of war, others saw
friendship, humanity, humour and moments of extraordinary courage and
kindness.”
Others, he said, returned with experiences that were
difficult to put into words.
Anderson also recalled the words of military chaplain Rob
Sutherland, who suggested that the success of the Afghanistan mission might
ultimately be measured differently from its original military objectives.
“Whatever conclusions are ultimately drawn by history about
the campaign itself, there's one part of the Afghanistan story that to me is
already clear: the great success of Afghanistan is the men and women who served
there,” Anderson said.
Governor-General Sam Mostyn opened her address by offering
condolences to the family of Corporal Brendan Hannam, an Australian soldier
killed during a training exercise in the Northern Territory last week.
Mostyn said Hannam had also served in Afghanistan and that
his death had resonated beyond Australia.
She cited a message from the chairman of NATO’s Military
Committee expressing condolences and recognizing the risks military personnel
face even during peacetime training.
“Training to keep our forces ready is never without risk,”
the message said. “Those who accept that risk every day deserve our deepest
respect and gratitude.”
Albanese, in his address, quoted former Prime Minister John
Howard, who was in office when Australia decided to send troops to Afghanistan,
explaining the country's decision to join the U.S.-led campaign.
“If we left this contest only to America, we would be
leaving it to them to defend our rights and those of all the other people of
the world who have a commitment to freedom and liberty,” Albanese quoted Howard
as saying.
Former prime ministers Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison also
attended the ceremony.
Among the attendees was Ben Roberts-Smith, a former Special
Air Service Regiment soldier and Victoria Cross recipient who faces five counts
of war crime murder relating to his deployments in Afghanistan. He was
permitted by a New South Wales court to travel to Canberra for the event after
a variation to his bail conditions.
Roberts-Smith has denied the allegations and said he intends
to fight them in court. The charges remain allegations and have not been
established by a criminal conviction.
The ceremony concluded with the laying of wreaths, the Ode of
Remembrance, the Last Post and a minute of silence, followed by a flyover by a
Chinook helicopter.
As Australia marked the anniversary, the ceremony served as
a reminder that the legacy of its longest war extends beyond military
operations and official assessments of the campaign. For those who served and
the families who supported them, the consequences continue long after the
troops have returned home.
