Australia Day in the Sand
Photo roundup at Castle Argghhh!!!
From my earlier shout out to my ancestral homeland:
Australia Day and why we should celebrate it here: Australia has been there with us in every war since World War I. Technically, we were there with them in WWs I and II … they were there first. Korea, check. Vietnam, check. Gulf War, check. Afghanistan, check. Iraq, check. Britain is considered our closest ally, but I’d suggest Australia, population 20 million, other end of the world, has a better record, and has not been shy about stepping in as needed in its own neighborhood, notably Timor.
Let’s hear it for John Howard, repeatedly re-elected while unabashedly supporting us, and his foreign minister Alexander Downer, who coined the phrase “multi-nationalism of the lowest common denominator” in a brilliant speech rejecting same. Australia Day marks the arrival of the First Fleet at Botany Bay in 1788, the founding of modern Australia as a British penal colony, inauspicious beginnings from which a great nation and force for freedom in the world was born.
To the memory of Uncle Phil, on the wall at the Australian War Memorial as Flt. Sgt. Philip Crittenden, RAAF, KIA October 1941 over Belgium. In honor of my old man, Geoff Crittenden, who worked in the shipyards at Williamstown during the war and later as an engineer at Broken Hill and elsewhere, helping to build this great nation prior to taking his Aussie knowhow over to the U.S. and then to Asia to show them how its done. Mother and Auntie Helen, nurses at the Albert. Mother’s cousin Rear Adm Bryn Mussared, RAN, WIA survivor HMAS Canberra, Savo, August 1942. Grandfather Robert Leonard and Great Uncle Alan Mussared, Australian engineering officers and shipmates who served in the Royal Navy in WWI. Grandfather George Crittenden, Australian Army, WWI, locked up in Pinchgut, aka Fort Denison, Sydney Harbor defenses, for going AWOL to chase my grandmother. Uh … forget that. Later owned and operated several pubs in and around Melbourne, performing a vital service to a thirsty nation. Not to be trifled with at billiards, knew which horses to bet on, who needed to be shown the door and who needed to be shown the horsetrough.
Ian Crittenden, age 10, says, “Thank you Australia!”
Family in Oz going back at least to the 1850s … and no, none that I know of arrived in chains. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
But every now and then I wish the folks hadn’t emigrated.
Topics: Uncategorized
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:45 am on Friday, January 26, 2007
4 Responses to “Australia Day in the Sand”
Leave a Reply
Trackback URLYou must be logged in to post a comment.
January 26th, 2007 at 11:53 am
Happy Australia Day! Even though it’s already mostly over, over there.
January 26th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
Oh yeah…forgot…Australia Day.
“Ian Crittenden, age 10, says, “Thank you Australia!”
I second the motion presented, “Thank you Australia”, Master Crittenden.
January 26th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Happy Australia Day, and thanks, mates.
January 26th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
Thank you Australia! Australia’s what the U.S. used to be.