When Vietnam veteran Derek Broad took to the streets holding his torch high, he had in mind his father, father-in-law and a dear friend.
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Residents from Wagga and surrounding areas with personal connections to Legacy Australia participated in the Legacy Centenary Torch Relay on Thursday to mark its 100th-year anniversary.
Legacy Australia provides assistance to 40,000 veterans' families across the country- including widows, seniors, children who have lost their parent in service, and veterans' dependents with a disability.
Wagga's Legacy House is one of 44 across Australia.
The relay began on April 23 in Pozieres, France, before it made its way to London and then Australia.
It began in Perth before moving to Adelaide, north to Darwin and down the east coast to Wagga, its 40th of 44 visits.
For Mr Broad, who had been a Legacy ward after his father was killed in World War II and would later go on to become a legatee, the relay holds significant sentimental value.
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"My wife and I were both Legacy wards, we both lost our fathers in the early '60s in World War II," he said.
"Legacy Australia had approached our mothers with the intention of signing them up which they both did."
Mr Broad and his wife Rita had been assigned the same legatee, former Wagga Legacy president Lindsay Longley. It was how the loving couple first came to know one another.
"It meant a lot to me," Mr Broad said.
A child himself, the oldest with four younger siblings and being the sole provider for his family, Mr Broad had the entire weight of the world on his shoulders - at least that's what it felt like.
"I had to leave school in Year 10 (after his father's death) and work so I could provide for my family - that was our only income," he said.
"I don't know how we would have survived without Legacy."
Mr Broad was then called to service in 1966 where he was an infantry solider in Vietnam, in charge of a section of 10 men and the machine guns.
When he was discharged in 1968 Mr Longley approached him again to see if he would be willing to be a legatee as well, giving to another child what Mr Longley gave to him as a legatee.
"Their role is to fill a role similar to a father figure and to be a mentor," Mr Broad said.
"They said I could have a fortnight to think about it, but I said yes straight away on the spot."
Now in his 70s, Mr Broad will mark his 50th year as a legatee in 2024.
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