Remembering service to the nation

THE twelfth anniversary of the dedication of Ballarat’s National Servicemen’s Memorial was marked last Sunday.

At 2.30pm veteran national servicemen, their families and friends gathered at the monument where Sturt and Dawson streets meet to remember “nashos” who died and made sacrifices at war, including Ballarat’s Graham Belleville and Victor Grice in 1966.

A former Sergeant, Stan Kellett was the final president of the Ballarat and Districts Sub-branch of the National Servicemen’s Association of Australia before it closed due to low membership.

He said it’s important to mark anniversaries and honour their colleagues as they did last weekend.

“As long as we can stand upright, we’ll be coming here. Even if there’s only two of us,” he said.

“We’re all veterans now, not just national servicemen. The bulk of us were all in the initial national service group that were 18 years of age.

“My birthday’s on the 31st of December. I was in Puckapunyal on the 3rd of January, 1955 at 18 years and three days.”

There were 287,000 young Australian men conscripted into the navy, army and air force between 1951 and 1972. In Borneo and Vietnam, 212 were killed while actively serving.

The granite and marble memorial was officially unveiled in on Sunday, 3 February 2008 by the then minister assisting the Premier on veterans’ affairs, Tony Robinson.

Ballarat membership has now gone to the state branch of the National Servicemen’s Association of Australia.