Australia honours those who served in the war in Afghanistan — ABC News Australia

In Canberra, Australia, the Australian War Memorial held a national ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the beginning of Australian military service in Afghanistan. The event was attended by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor, and former heads of government John Howard, Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison, ABC News Australia reports.

Australia’s service in Afghanistan

Australian forces were deployed to Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Operation Slipper, a multinational counterterrorism mission launched after the September 11 attacks in the United States. Over the following two decades, more than 35,000 Australians served in Afghanistan or in supporting roles in the Middle East.

As a result of service in Afghanistan, 47 Australian Defence Force personnel were killed and another 263 were wounded. Among those killed was Private Robert Poate, who was shot dead in 2012 by an Afghan army officer acting alone. During the ceremony, his mother, Jenny Poate, recalled the families who hoped every day for the safe return of their loved ones from service.

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Honouring veterans and the fallen

Australian War Memorial director Matt Anderson said that everyone who served in Afghanistan had their own experience of war: for some, it involved its harshest manifestations; for others, friendship, humanity, humour, courage and kindness. He called the men and women who served there the greatest success of the Afghan campaign, regardless of future historical assessments of the war itself.

Governor-General Sam Mostyn also expressed condolences to the family of Corporal Brendan Gannam, who died last week during training in the Northern Territory and had previously served in Afghanistan. After wreaths were laid, the Ode of Remembrance and the Last Post were sounded, and participants honoured the fallen with a minute of silence. The ceremony concluded with a Chinook helicopter flypast.

Afghanistan veteran Ben Roberts-Smith also attended the event. A local court in New South Wales allowed him to travel to Canberra by changing his bail conditions. The former Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) serviceman faces five murder charges as war crimes related to his deployments to Afghanistan. Roberts-Smith denies the allegations and says he intends to clear his name in court.