And it’s fantastic to see such a strong involvement from local residents.

The Dawn Service at Memorial Hill on Monday morning was again a moving experience.

A huge crowd was in attendance on a fairly cold but brilliant morning.

For once, the PA system worked well and there was a huge number of wreaths laid.

What really stirs the juices in me is the sounding of The Last Post.

It can be quite emotional.

One aspect however, which was missing this year, and which was raised with me by quite a few people, was the absence of the four soldiers on ‘point’ duty (not sure of the right term, but you know what I mean).

In the past, four soldiers have been positioned on all corners of the memorial - but this year, they were missing and I’m not sure why.

We no longer have the Army Reserve platoon in Parkes, so that is possibly the reason.

But hopefully, in future years, we are able to arrange for soldiers from nearby platoons (I think we are now part of Orange) to be part of the service.

Another thing which really struck me this year was the amazing number of marchers.

Ex-service personnel and their families were very well represented.

But it was the number of local school students who took part which was sensational.

The schools always march but it appears this year, they all rallied to ensure big numbers were involved.

And that should ensure the tradition of ANZAC will continue to be a major part of our lives for many, many years to come.

- - - - - 

On to something quite  serious - and a subject of which I have very little knowledge or experience.

It was raised with me by a former Parkes man who still keeps an active interest in local happenings.

Ray Veldre was a student here in my days, and his views on this subject I found quite interesting and enlightening.

Hopefully you will too.

“I see it's been a few years since I was moved to write but something in your column on 1 April spurred me to contact you again.

As you know, I share a similar family background with you. My parents were DPs (displaced persons)  at the end of WW2 and resettled in Parkes. 

I seem to remember another term ‘refos’ but I won't go there just now.

In your column,  you wrote about the eagerness of our parents to blend in with ‘Aussie’ culture. 

That cetainly resonates with me, but  then you went on to observe ‘....nowadays many of the migrant population do not want to embrace our culture, but to destroy it’. 

This appears to have been a veiled reference to immigrants from countries where Islam is the predominant faith. 

I'd like to point out a few facts as I understand them.

Islam, like Christianity, is a broad church. There are numerous branches of the faith,  but the two main denominations are Sunni and Shi'a. 

Together they are said to make up most of the Islamic faith (99%). 

So that leaves around 1% that I'll classify  as ‘other’. 

A fraction of the ‘other’ are fundamentalists and a fraction of those are violent fundamentalists.

World-wide  Islam has an estimated 1.5 billion followers. 

According to the 2011 census,  around 476,000 Australian residents identified as followers of Islam from an overall population of 22 million.  

So the followers of Islam make up around 2% of the total population.

If violent extremists bent on destroying western society account for less than 1% of  the Islamic population of Australia, there may be around  200 potential trouble makers Australia-wide. 

It follows that more than 475,000 Australians of Muslim faith must be  peaceful law abiding citizens.

While some aspects of our culture might morally challenge  them (they worry me too) the overwhelming  majority are not intent on destroying the fabric of our society.

So far in Australia  violent incidents linked to Islam have been perpetrated by lone wolves or disaffected youngsters stirred up by a tiny, rag-tag band of psychopaths and misfits on the fringes of even their own culture. 

It's also worth keeping in mind that history shows Australia has been intensely suspicious and sometime hostile towards people from other cultures. 

Look at the first wave of Chinese immigration in the 1800s  and the troubles at Lambing Flat. 

The next influx included northern Europeans,  Italians and Greeks. 

Then it was South East Asian boat people.  

Now the followers of Islam are in the spotlight.

I predict that just as Australians now fully accept and appreciate all the aforementioned European and Asian cultures,  our society will one day understand and appreciate our newest wave of immigrants. 

If we can manage that, it might also  stem the flow of disaffected young people towards violent extremism.

This is not a personal attack mate, just an attempt to add a bit of perspective.”

Thanks Ray,  very well put!

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“In spite of the cost of living, it's still popular.”