By LIA SPENCER
“IT’S a proud moment when you see the crowd of people at an Anzac Day service and you know everyone is thinking about what soldiers had to go through.”
Brendan Simons joined the army more than 30 years ago, and has seen the amount of training and dedication it takes to serve Australia.
The 50-year-old Narre Warren resident said he had finished Year 11 at high school and was unsure of his future when he saw an ad to join the army.
As soon as he turned 17, he signed up, was recruited, and was immersed in intense training for three years at the Army Recruit Training Centre in Kapooka near Wagga Wagga.
“I was 17 and with a bunch of blokes aged between 20 and 22 and had started asking, ‘what have I done?’” he said.
“But with education, confidence and physical ability, I got through.”
Following his training, Mr Simon signed up to engineers training school before being posted to a support squad in Brisbane.
He then went on to Holsworthy near Sydney and did jungle warfare exercises in Tully, Canungra and Shoalwater Bay.
He then signed up to the Army Reserve and was part of an engineer unit in East Ringwood. In six years, he climbed the ladder to become a corporal and then moved into a plant troop.
“In those years, I gained a lot of confidence, self-discipline, and mates,” he said.
Many of his mates went on to do peacekeeping duties in Timor.
“I have seen the dedication required to perform their duties. They go to do a job and come back as young proud men, knowing they helped a community.”
Mr Simons said his time in the army had given him a deep appreciation of the men and women who served and continued to serve Australia, and those soldiers who fought in World War I and World War II – including five of his uncles who served in England. Three of them never returned.
“I have been going to the Dawn Service at Narre Warren for the last 12 years and each year the number of attendees has increased significantly,” he said.
“It’s fantastic when you leave your estate at 5.45am and see the amount of cars going to the service to commemorate and honour those who fought for our country. That’s what we want to remember.”
