About 2500 people stood in silence as the corellas cawed and dawn broke over Shepparton on Monday, April 25, and remembered.
During the minute’s silence, Brian McInney thought of his five friends who died in Vietnam, all killed on May 13, 1968.
Anthony Ciavarella remembered his great uncle, who fought in World War II.
Guest speaker Corporal Matthew Tilmouth thought about the people he served with in Baghdad and Kabul.
While they thought of their own friends and family, they also thought of all those who had served and died for Australia.
Each member of the huge, silent crowd was lost in thought, thinking of men and women they knew who served their country — our country — all across the world.
Mr McInney, who MC-ed the service, said it was one of the biggest crowd he’d seen in Shepparton, potentially surpassing even the centenary event in 2018.
“It would be close to the most we’ve had,” he said.
“It’s wonderful to see everyone get out of bed come along to the dawn service.”