Former digger Phil Buttigieg will rise before the sun on 25 April for a day full of commemoration and camaraderie.
After attending the Beenleigh Anzac Day dawn service, he will travel to Brisbane to march with his battalion and eat and drink with old mates.
“Anzac Day is not much to us unless we are with mates,” Mr Buttigieg said.
“It would probably be depressing at times if you were by yourself, I would think.”
Mr Buttigieg’s Anzac Day plans are by no means introverted; as a soldier, he said it was “all about mateship”.
“First and foremost, we enquire about what our mates are doing,” he said.
“And we usually build some sort of plan for the day.”
Mr Buttigieg joined the military in 1964 at the age of 17 and served two tours in the Vietnam War as a founding member of the 6th Battalion.
He also served in New Guinea and Singapore.
“All of us young fellows, we were influenced by the stories and the deeds of our fathers and grandfathers – the stories of Anzac and the Western Front – those things have an underlying value for us,” he said.
“We weren’t with the Gallipoli veterans nor the World War I veterans of the Western Front, but we experienced being shot at with certain people in your company, so you develop a bond over time.”
Following a dawn service at Beenleigh RSL to start the day, Mr Buttigieg will catch the train to Brisbane.
“I will march with one of our retired officers along with all the other 6th Battalion veterans, and we will then go for lunch and a few beers afterwards,” he said.
“I will make my way home and get back to Beenleigh by late afternoon, then I will make my way to the Beenleigh RSL and finish the day with local mates.”
He said they will chat about the war – the bad times, but also the good.
“We tend to laugh rather than cry about things,” Mr Buttigieg said.
He said he’d formed a particularly strong bond with these mates.
“You like to be with them on the day we remember our service because they know what you’ve done and you know what they’ve done,” he said.
“You also like to be with them because they know some of your friends who have been killed in action.
“And we talk about those things, but it’s not the same as talking to people who haven’t had that military grounding, because there’s too much to explain.”
Despite the solemnity, Mr Buttigieg said it would be a fun day.
“But as we get older, we learn to not do anything silly – not to overdrink,” he said.
“We still have a beer and enjoy it, but not too much.
“I can’t remember when I was drunk last – it was a long, long time ago – but I can remember when I was merry last and that’s not long ago.”
Mr Buttigieg has spent the years since the war teaching English and History.
“Windaroo High was my last school – I was there for 10 years,” he said
“I’m still a registered teacher, even though I’m 77.”
He now encourages other veterans to speak at local schools about the importance of Anzac Day.
“I’m keen to support schools who practice things Anzac – it’s part of Australian development, I think, to be aware of why we have the freedom in this country,” Mr Buttigieg said.
“I promote things Anzac.”
Anzac Day services across Logan include:
Beenleigh and District RSL Sub Branch
- Dawn Service: 5:30am sharp, Beenleigh War Memorial, corner Crete and James Streets, Beenleigh
- March assembly: 9:00am, corner Kokoda and York Streets, Beenleigh
- March: 9:30am sharp, corner Kokoda and York Streets, Beenleigh
- Morning Service: 10:00am, Beenleigh War Memorial, corner Crete and James Streets, Beenleigh.
Diggers Services Club
- Dawn Service:Â 5:30am 42-48 Blackwood Rd, Logan Central.
Greenbank RSL Sub Branch
- Dawn Service: 5:30am, Greenbank Services Club Lower Carpark
- March assembly: 9:30am, Blackwell Street, Hillcrest
- March: 10:00am, Anzac Avenue, Hillcrest
- Morning Service: 10:30am, Greenbank Services Club Lower Carpark
Note:Â Please get there early to secure parking as car parks may be limited due to renovation at Greenbank Services Club.
Jimboomba RSL Sub Branch
- Dawn Service: 4:25am, outside Jimboomba Library and Community Centre, 18-22 Honora St, Jimboomba
- March: 7:00am, Brisbane Street. Jimboomba
- Morning Service: 7:30am, Jimboomba Rotary Park
Afterward: Gunfire Breakfast, Rotary Club of Jimboomba, Rotary Hall, Johanna Street and Honora St, Jimboomba
Logan Central
- Dawn Service: 5:30am, corner Wembley Rd and Jacaranda Avenue, Logan Central
- March:Â 8:30am from the Logan Central Plaza carpark, along Wembley Road to the Logan District Ex-Service Memorial Gardens
- Morning Service:Â 9:00am, Logan District Ex-Service Memorial Gardens, corner Wembley Road and Jacaranda Ave, Logan Central
Springwood Tri-Service RSL Sub Branch
- March assembly: 7:20am, Logan East Community Neighbourhood Centre (LECNA), 55 Cinderella Drive, Springwood
- March: 7:45am, commences from LECNA along Cinderella Drive and enters Springwood Park from the Southern entrance
- Morning Service: 8:20am, Springwood Park, Cinderella Drive, Springwood.
