AUSTRALIA’s first female Major General has urged the current generation to maintain April 25 as a day to reflect on how fortunate we are and to reflect on our freedom.
Major General Liz Cosson said we must be determined as the ranks of our veterans continue to diminish.
The former Leitchville pupil was guest speaker at Leitchville’s ANZAC Day commemoration guest speaker, attended by more than 150 people at the Leitchville Memorial Hall yesterday.
“Australia has a proud and distinguished military history. From the shores of Gallipoli and the battlefields of the western front in World War One to the skies over Europe, the deserts of North Africa, and the islands of the Pacific of World War Two,” Major General Cosson said.
“Australia’s servicemen and women have always served our country with distinction. As a nation we are very proud of our military heritage.”
“On ANZAC Day we demonstrate as Australians how much we appreciate life and how highly we value those who are willing to lay down their lives for our nation; its people and our values.”
Major General Cosson also paid tribute to women who served abroad.
“Women in Australian military can be traced back as far as 1899 when the first army nursing service was set up in New South Wales, before army nurses sailed abroad,” she said.
