Major General Steve Gower AO

Director of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra

Dear Sir,

I write to you to give notice of my intention to organise for next Anzac Day eve, a lantern-lit vigil which will assemble at dusk and go through the night till the Dawn Service. We will use the occasion to recall the voices of service people who returned from war and said that war was not the answer.

It is my intention to build this event over the next few years, starting next Anzac Day eve in Canberra, and aim to have 10,000 lanterns arrayed across the nation on the eve of the centenary of the Galllipoli landing in 2015.

Inspired to do this by my reading of What’s Wrong with Anzac – the Militarisation of Australian History by Marilyn Lake, Henry Reynolds, et al and my meditations at the Australian Quaker Centre, Bungendore last Anzac Day weekend, i expect the event will have a lot of support from the many people concerned about the endless wars in which we now find ourselves engaged.  And in particular faith based peace activists and their families.

I understand that you are contributing to the planning for the national celebration of the Anzac centenary and I request that you pass on this notice of intent to the committee you are working with.

Please also point me to whoever i must talk to in order to integrate our Anzac Lantern Vigil into the overall Anzac Day celebrations in Canberra.

Yours respectfully,

Graeme Dunstan

Peacebus.com

also an organiser for Stand Fast: Veterans and ex-service people against the Afghan and Iraq wars