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Former Australian top gun pilot, Matt Hall, who served in Iraq with the U.S. Air Force, is reminding Aussies not to forget the sacrifices made in the past to achieve the freedoms of the present.
His comments came in the lead-up to Remembrance Day on Nov. 11, marking the 107th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I.
“Try and encourage everyone to be thankful for what we’ve got and not let that stuff happen again,” said Hall, a third-generation Australian pilot, in an interview with The Epoch Times.
“It is an important time to reflect on what was sacrificed to get there in the first place to the end of hostilities. [I] appreciate the freedom that we have because of it.”
Hall was a combat instructor and has the unique distinction of receiving both U.S. and Australian commendations. He was also the first Australian to compete and win the now-defunct Red Bull Air Race World Championship in 2019.
He was in Brisbane as part of a promotional event for the Cirrus SR Series G7+ aircraft on Nov. 6.
A member of the Allied Powers in World War I, over 400,000 Australians enlisted and more than 60,000 lost their lives in the conflict. As a part of the British Empire, Australia sent troops to fight in key battles such as Gallipoli, the Western Front, and Palestine.
Like Americans, Australians across the country will observe a minute of silence at 11 a.m. to honour the moment in 1918 when the guns fell silent, bringing an end to years of devastation in Europe.
With a grandfather who flew in World War II and having started flying with his father at an early age, Hall noted that respect for veterans and Remembrance Day is probably starting to fade.
“It’s getting further into the distance,” he said.
“It’s good to see on ANZAC Day, how well remembered it is … People that do get out of bed for Dawn services. They put themselves through a little bit of pain, just the simple thing of getting out of bed early before dawn to go to a dawn service in the cold. I think that’s good to see.”
“And be thankful for the brave men and women of the Defence Forces, past, present, and future,” said Hall.
The Dawn Service is a key tradition in Australia, held at daybreak on ANZAC Day (April 25) to honor the sacrifice of soldiers, particularly those who fought at Gallipoli during World War I.
The service marks the approximate time when the first wave of ANZAC troops landed on the shores of Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey in 1915.
