Royal Australian Air Force celebrates 102nd ANZAC Day

Each year on April 25,Australians and New Zealanders commemorate ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day to recognize the sacrifices Australian and New Zealand soldiers, sailors and Airmen have made – not only in defending their country but in upholding their nations’ longstanding commitment to peace and security. Members of the Royal Australian Air Force based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base host an ANZAC Day commemoration including an early morning service and a ‘gunfire’ breakfast in the Valor Park section of Memorial Park at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. RAAF Wing Commander Andrew State, senior national representative for Australia and supply liaison officer, Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate, presides over the ceremony honoring what he says is similar to a combination Memorial and Veterans Days in the U.S. The celebration concludes with the playing of Reveille and Australia’s national anthem by Tech. Sgt. Cheryl Przytula, Air Force Band of Flight, and a replica of a French Nieuport 23 World War I-era biplane performing a fly-pass.— Amy Rollins, Skywrighter staff