From the early hours of the morning through to the last minutes of light, the community of Junee came together for Anzac Day to celebrate the brave men and women who fought to defend their country.
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Hundreds of people gathered in Memorial Park, lining the streets to cheer on their fellow community members who would soon march through town to pay their respects. Taking off a little late, everyone from defense force members, schools and emergency services right through to passionate men and women showing their support, began the march just after 10:30am, weaving through Peel Street before stopping in Railway Square for a short service.
With the march coming to a halt surrounding the cenotaph in Broadway, the attendees stood strong and proud as speakers paid their respects.
Reverend Alan Jones lead the service with a prayer, speaking of strength as a united front.
"We come together as one today to offer our great thanks and gratitude for the peace and strength we are able to thrive on here in Australia," he said.
As he passed the podium position on to Mayor of Junee, Neil Smith, the community turned their heads to the sky as a classic Spitfire plane flew over head.
"You can't beat that sound of a Merlin engine," Cr Smith said.
Cr Smith kept his speech short and sweet, sharing a self-written poem on the beauty of the Junee community.
"The name of the town matters not, any country town you go to around Australia is a bloody good spot," he concluded.
"It's our attitude that makes the difference, and our national pride, so love your town and your country."
After a speech from Captain Andrew Masters of the Navy Headquarters in Canberra, and the laying of the wreathes, chills were sent through the crowd as Shane Logan played the Last Post on bugle.
Silence then fell for a minute as hundreds remembered the sacrifices made to protect Australia.
One man stood by, proud with five medals pinned to his chest. Robert Simes served in the Vietnam War, and sought to welcome the young serviceman and women with open arms.
"The tempo is starting to slow down a bit now with concern for the young veterans coming through, it took a lot of years for us to be recognised and set up with pensions and things like that, and we just don't want that to happen to them," he said.
"We want them to feel welcome, and if we can get them out there attending these functions and leading the parades, it promotes the support we need."
Mr Simes could not emphasise enough the support he and his fellow veterans had for one another.
"Everyone has a different story, different memories, but the one thing about any of these services is that you will never find better mateship," he said.
"It's not created anywhere else as strong outside of the Army, Air Force and Navy, it's just not there. But within the service it's there, and still thriving today. It's a very important day."
Mr Simes wife, Robyn, wore another set of medals herself.
"These are my mother's medals, but I also have my father's too who served in Papua New Guinea and World War II, and so it's a tradition I suppose to come together as a family on Anzac Day and remember," she said.
"I had two grandfathers that served in Gallipoli, so my daughter and I went there in 2015 which was just the most memorable occasion.
"To sit on that beach all night and listen to the waves coming in and knowing that landing was going to happen, it's incredible. Then we walked up to Lone Pine to the service, and to see where Simpson and his Donkey would bring wounded soldiers down was just indescribable."
After the service, Reverend Alan Jones also had a story of his own to share with The Daily Advertiser.
"My own father fought in World War II on the ships for South Africa, and he was only 16 years old," Mr Jones said.
"He forged his own passport, made the six look like and eight, so he could be old enough to fight.
"During the War when he came to Sydney, which luckily missed the submarines, he met my mother, and she sailed all the way to South Africa, all alone, to be with my father."
An abundance of stories and memories were shared throughout the Junee community over the day, and everyone took great pride in the town they called home.
"It was an incredible, beautiful service, absolutely moving and it's so great to see so many people banding together every year and hearing their stories," Chrissy Prat of neighbouring town Illabo said.
Mrs Prat's friend also had only good things to say of the day's proceedings.
"I thought it was really great to see so many children through schools attending as well, even though it's school holidays - it really shows the dedication and continuous support for the Anzac's down the generations," Alex Sheridan said.
In typical Aussie fashion, the crowds of attendees headed down to the Junee Ex-Services Club where veterans and medal holders were given free lunch as a small token of thanks for their service.