Strapping Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith, VC, loomed almost as large as the images of ghostly comrades projected onto the Australian War Memorial as the chill of a Canberra Anzac Day morning gave way to a simple plea to remember the families of the fallen.
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By the end of the day, 50,000 people has chosen the nation's capital and nation's war memorial to pay their respects for those who had made the supreme sacrifice.
Indeed, a far smaller sacrifice was to brave pitch-black Canberra at subzero temperatures, but 35,000 people did, and were rewarded with an Anzac Day dawn service memorable for imagery and words.
As families huddled together in blankets before the service, Corporal Roberts-Smith took the lectern and spoke for the children of those who had been killed in Afghanistan.
He called on Australians and New Zealanders to never forget those left at home to carry the burden of loss and loneliness. ''Although as soldiers we sometime have to make the ultimate sacrifice, it's the families that actually suffer, and we need to be sure that we maintain the momentum of looking after those families,'' he said.
Later, as he marched with the same children for whom he spoke, Corporal Roberts-Smith broke away from his SAS mates to embrace his twin daughters, Eve and Elizabeth, who had travelled from Western Australia to watch their father march. And, as it always does on this day, the Last Post had echoed across Canberra. It echoed across other places around the world where Australians had spilled their blood. Our national representatives listened for it at home and abroad. Prime Minister Julia Gillard was in Townsville; Governor-General Quentin Bryce was in Port Moresby.
This year's dawn service crowd eclipsed last year's 10,000, and 17,500 watched the national ceremony that began with the Anzac Day parade at 10.20am and concluded with a fly-past by three RAAF jets just after midday.
An AWM spokesman said when the attendances were considered on a per capita basis compared to cities such as Melbourne, where 45,000 people took part, they were ''just staggering''. ''We had Friends of the Memorial and visitors attending from right across the country; it really brings home the fact the memorial [and the ACT ceremony] is for all Australians, not just for Canberra.''
AWM director Dr Brendan Nelson said the jump in attendance reflected a range of factors.
''We are getting closer to 2015 [the centenary of the Anzac landing], so the interest is increasing,'' he said.
''The weather has been brilliant today and the memorial has been active in promoting Anzac Day and the enhancements around the lighting and the images and the readings before [the dawn service].''
He thanked Corporal Roberts-Smith for his work as ambassador and paid tribute to the many veterans groups and service organisations that had contributed to the success of the event. ''There are some truths by which we live that are worth fighting for,'' he said in his first ever commemorative address. ''No Australian has worked harder or given more than those men and women who have worn or who now wear the uniforms of the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal Australian Navy or the Australian Army.''
With the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, attending the Anzac Day service in the Queensland garrison city, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott took a front-row seat justgarrison city, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott took a front-row seat just 10 away from his predecessor but one, Dr Nelson. ''Today, we honour all who have served our country in war and in peace,'' Mr Abbott said in a statement. ''Australia is a better place because of their service and the world is a safer place because of their sacrifice.''
Special guests included the New Zealand high commissioner, the Chief Justice, the Turkish ambassador and the dean of the diplomatic corps.
Serving ADF members were represented by the Chief of the Defence Force General David Hurley, and Vice Chief of Defence Force Air Marshal Mark Binskin.
Canberra's cultural diversity was celebrated by the participation of marchers from other nations who are now living in or near the ACT. These included five French veterans, about 10 World War II and Indonesian war of independence veterans from the Netherlands, 25 Americans, just over 30 former members of the South Vietnamese military forces and about the same number of Koreans.
The smallest contingent consisted of two Royal Australian Army Dental Corps veterans, and the largest was made up of the current enrolment at the Australian Defence Force Academy, which also provided the honour guard.
Duntroon was represented by the Royal Military College band. RMC cadets attend their own Anzac Day dawn service at the college parade ground before travelling to Cowra, Goulburn, Yass, Cooma and Braidwood to participate in ceremonies there.