Fallen heroes.
Love of country.
Dr Prendiville’s Tribute.
In St Mary’s Cathedral yesterday during his address at the V-E Day thanksgiving service the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Perth (Dr Prendiville) paid a tribute to the dead.
“This is indeed a day of joy,” he said, “but that joy, unfortunately, is tinged with sorrow, for there are many hearts today mourning for the lost ones who went forth in answer to the call of duty, never to return. In response to the persuasive, impelling influence of the magic word, patriotism, they left home and dear ones, and all personal and selfish reasons were cast aside. Their country needed them and they answered the call gladly.
“These patriots, for patriots they were in every sense of the word, rose above the love of parents and kindred, above friendship, above the love of family, with its clinging devotion of wife and children, into the realm of that more unselfish love, the love of mankind, the love of justice, the love of right. Their home was wherever the Empire’s flag was waving, and they were ever ready to stand beneath the roof of its sheltering folds and defend its castle of right, even to the shedding of the last drop of their blood.
“Yes, we remember them today, the fallen heroes, whose names and deeds are worthy of everlasting remembrance. Their names and deeds will be written indelibly in the fleshy tablets of the hearts of a grateful people to preserve whose rights and liberties they sallied forth to dare, to do, and to die.”
Source:
The West Australian (Perth, WA), Thursday 10 May 1945, page 3
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