Most countries celebrate their army on at least one day a year. In the United States, we have Memorial Day and Veterans' Day. In Australia, they celebrate Anzac Day!
Australia celebrates Anzac Day every year on April 25th. People gather at dawn for a memorial service of all fallen Australian soldiers throughout history, and then have marches later in the day. Although it's named after a specific group in World War I, Australians celebrate other soldiers and conflicts on the same day. It's also a federal holiday, so workers get the day off. My new homestay host, Jodie, helps plan the dawn service. She also told me about a game that people play in pubs on Anzac Day called Two-Up. It's an Australian gambling game that soldiers played, so it's a commemorative experience and is illegal at all other times of the year.
April 25th is the anniversary of the day when Australian and New Zealand soldiers landed on Turkey in 1915 as part of the Allies' invasion during World War I. Anzac was originally an acronym for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. They declared the April 25th holiday the very next year because of the high death toll. According to the Australian Veteran's Affairs department, almost 9,000 ANZAC soldiers died.
