Beaudesert will pause to remember those who died or suffered in all wars and armed conflicts at the town’s Remembrance Day memorial service on 11 November.
The Beaudesert RSL Sub Branch service at the cenotaph on William Street will start with the parade fall in at 10.40am and culminate in one minute of silence at 11am.
President Jon Forbe-Smith will welcome guests, Venerable David Lunnis will lead a prayer service, people will lay wreaths and there will be the Last Post, Ode and Rouse and the national anthem.
Sub Branch Vice President Carol Castles encouraged Beaudesert to turn out.
“Quite a number of people in Beaudesert would have some sort of history with Remembrance Day, going right back to World War I,” she said.
“Although I didn’t originally come from Beaudesert, I do have a family history – my grandfather was in France as a 16-year-old, my father served in New Guinea and my husband was in the Navy – so it’s of great significance to me personally, and I know there would be a lot of others in the community with a similar history.”
She said it became more important with each passing year.
“As time goes by, really the people left behind are the vanguards to remember those who’ve gone before, because now nearly all the World War I veterans have gone, nearly all the World War II veterans are going and slowly but surely the Korean veterans are going and also the Vietnam veterans are going, too,” she said.
“It’s up to those of us who are left – family and community – to keep the candles lit, because things can be forgotten over time. My dear friend Errol Yuke, who was an Indigenous man, was a Vietnam veteran – we include all peoples in the vision of keeping our country free.
“Time is a bit of a sneak, when it takes things away and memories are forgotten – so we need to keep those memories going. Physically, one way of doing it is turning up at the cenotaph on the 11th of the 11th and supporting the people who are left there.”
