Hard lessons of war seem so easy to forget amid sabre-rattling

Veteran numbers from World War II are rapidly diminishing. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs estimates that by June there will be just 2500 of these veterans nationwide. By December 2026 it will likely be down to about 800. The clock is ticking on the opportunity to listen to their stories of why world wars should never be repeated.

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The RSL, which organises the service at the Cenotaph, is manoeuvring to accommodate the changing needs of the veteran community. RSL NSW membership has increased by 48 per cent over the past five years and the average age of a new member is, surprisingly, now in the 50s. The charity (a separate entity to RSL Clubs) donated $3.3 million to RSL LifeCare Veteran Services last year to help with homelessness, claims for financial support, healthcare and to assist those making the fraught transition into the civilian workplace.

Those challenges take a heavy toll on the mental health of men and women who have put their lives on the line for their country. The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide was launched in 2021 and completed its final day of hearing last month. There were 1677 certified deaths by suicide among current and past defence force personnel between 1997 and 2021, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Australian Defence Force Chief Angus Campbell apologised for failures that have contributed to the high rates of suicide among current and former service members. These tragedies affect partners, children and wider families for years to come.

How much more evidence do we need that war provides a solution for nobody? Nobody emerges as a winner. Although some conflicts are necessary, all too often the bright light of history reveals flawed or even fictitious motives that triggered conflagrations in the first place. War should always be the absolute last resort and undertaken for the right reasons.

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Norman “Stormin’ Norman” Schwarzkopf, who as the commander of United States Central Command led all coalition forces in the Gulf War against Ba’athist Iraq, famously said: “The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.”

Words of wisdom as the haunting bugle notes of The Last Post echo around the country – words that the global sabre-rattlers would do well to recognise. We fail to learn from past mistakes at our peril.

Lest we forget.