'They came home with scars': Soldiers' sacrifices honoured on Remembrance Day

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About 150 people have paused to reflect on the service of Defence Force personnel past and present for Remembrance Day in Murray Bridge.

At the new war memorial at Sturt Reserve, shortly before 11am on Wednesday, they gathered for the old familiar rituals: the Ode of Remembrance, the Last Post, the laying of wreaths and raising of flags.

You can watch the entire service in the video above.

Murray Bridge Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital health advisory council presiding member Greg O’Brien remembered the 60,000 Australian men who never made it home from World War I, which ended 102 years ago to the day.

“They came home with physical and mental scars, and they came home with the memories of their  mates who had fallen,” Mr O’Brien said.

“Every year since 1918 we have gathered on this day, at this time, to remember those who have fallen in our name, in the Great War and in the conflicts since.”

“We owe it to those who gave their lives, the families who mourned them, our generation and our nation’s future to remember (their) extraordinary service and sacrifice.”

Uniting Church minister Darren Lovell recalled words from the Bible: “greater love has no-one than this: than to lay down you life for one's friends”.

Murray Bridge’s Remembrance Day service would usually be held at the hospital, where memorial gates still stand near the entrance to the new emergency department.

However, the service was moved for 2020 while work there is finished off.

RSL president Rod Harris said he was not sure whether the service would return to its traditional location in 2021.