One of the last remaining Australian veterans of World War I died on Monday, October 17. He was just 14 when he left to defend his country; he was 106 when he died.
"William Evan Allan enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy at the outbreak of the war when he was just 14. He served as a seaman on the HMAS Encounter from 1915 to 1918.
"’With his passing, we have lost an entire generation who left Australia to defend our nation, the British Empire and other nations in the cause of freedom and democracy,’ Veteran Affairs Minister De-Anne Kelly said in a statement.
"’Mr. Allan was just a boy when he went to war, much younger than most. His sacrifice is remembered and we honor him for his service,’ she said.
"Allan, born in the southeastern town of Bega in July 1899 and a resident of Melbourne, also was Australia’s sole surviving veteran of both world wars. In World War II, Allan served on an armed merchant cruiser and as pier master of a naval base."
Maybe it’s just me, but I find it amazingly uplifting and hopeful that in a day and age where parents kick out freeloading adult children on a "reality-TV" series that we are still within living memory of an era when young people, now considered minors, were mature enough to take on the adult responsibility of serving their country with honor. Perhaps we can still reclaim that heritage of raising self-sufficient and heroically-inclined children (although, of course, we should wait until they are eighteen before calling them up for war).
May William Evan Allan and all the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace through the mercy of God.
I wonder if, as a society becomes too wealthy it’s children suffer with an over abundance and hence don’t grow up as a whole. Then, eventually the society fails as too many generations are raised this way.
Oh my..I just re-read what I wrote. I must be getting old!
reality shows like that probably say more about society’s anti-family and war-between-the-generations attitude than about how grown-up people may or may not be. After all, other cultures have more communal living. Remembering that the alternatives may be things like them going off to live in de facto relationships, keeping them home a bit longer might not be such a bad thing.
Amen
God bless him!
God bless Australia!
God bless William Evan Alan, God bless Australia.
I second that!