A modern wartime tragedy brought the Palmer and Wilson families together. The spirit of the veteran community means they will never be torn apart.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Lance Corporal Gary Wilson was on board a Black Hawk helicopter when it crashed near Kandahar, Afghanistan, in June 2010, killing four military personnel - including 27-year-old private Scott Travis Palmer.
Three months later, Lance Corporal Wilson was in hospital recovering from serious injuries suffered in the crash when he was visited by Private Palmer's parents, Ray and Pam.
United by the tragic loss of a son and fellow soldier, the trio struck up a bond that has strengthened over the years.
"Pam and I flew down to hospital and visited all of the wounded because we thought it was important that they had our support through the tragedy," Mr Palmer said.
"Unfortunately there is a lot of guilt factor there [among survivors] so we wanted to stay close - and we have done ever since."
On Sunday, the Palmers and Wilsons attended the Remembrance Day ceremony at the Australian War Memorial, offering the families a chance to support each other through the grief of their shared loss.
"Today is a day of remembrance, but it is also a day to catch up and talk about what's been happening," Mr Palmer, who flew down from Darwin to be at the ceremony, said.
"It is a case of yes, we do have to remember the fallen, and we do keep that in the back of our minds, but you have to move on."
Lance Corporal Wilson, accompanied on Sunday by wife Renee and his two young children Abigayle and Lachlan, paid tribute to the support offered by the Palmers in the wake of their son's death eight years.
"They lost a son, but they gained so many more through the regiment - Pam has really adopted us like family," Lance Corporal Wilson said.
As with the Palmers and Wilsons, Sunday presented not only the opportunity for veterans and their families to remember the fallen, but to reunite with old friends.
Canberrans Jack Davis and Gerard Mapstone, who both fought in Vietnam, said Remembrance Day prompted them to reflect on fellow soldiers who had either died from friendly fire, or at their own hands.
"I think about the suicide in the young veterans, and also including our guys," Mapstone, an RAAF warrant officer in Vietnam, said. "We have lost a lot more to suicide than to anything else. It is not uncommon over the years to hear that one of our mates has died but there is nothing said about it."
