AS THE rising sun bathed the Wagga War Cemetery on Friday morning, the next generation of Australian servicemen and women shared why the Anzac spirit resonated so strongly with them.
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A crowd of around 80 people gathered at the War Cemetery to pay their respects following the dawn service with cadets from the Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force, Keitha Herr-May and Mitchell Marinac, delivering the address at the ceremony.
See photos from the Wagga War Cemetery dawn service here.
Cadet Corporal Herr-May spoke of the meaning of the Anzac spirit which had been instilled in her and her fellow cadets during their training.
"For many the parade ground on which we were taught, it was a hollow square representing where the departed were laid to rest after battle," she said.
"On that square, we were going to be taught how to be cadets.
"A major part of that was honouring those men and women who fought to make our homeland as safe as it is today."
Speaking at the service, Wagga RSL sub-branch president Kevin Kerr recalled the story of the HMAS Armidale when it was attacked by the Japanese during World War II.
He told of how, as the crew was instructed to abandon ship and "jump into the wild swirling sea", an artillery man strapped himself into a gun battery and took the fight to the Japanese in an attempt to provide covering fire to his comrades as they fled, managing even to down one of the enemy aircraft.
