I have listened to And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda several times in the last few days.
A very prophetic last few lines. The US Dept of Veterans Affairs projects that by 2036, there will be just a few hundred US WW2 vets left and they will be in their 80s and 90s, or older. There are just over 119,000 of them still alive today and they are currently dying at a rate of ~ 130/day but that death rate will rapidly increase in the next 15 years.
… And so now every April, I sit on me porch
And I watch the parades pass before me
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reviving old dreams of past glories
And the old men march slowly, old bones stiff and sore
They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, "what are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question
… But the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men still answer the call
But as year follows year, more old men disappear
Someday no one will march there at all
… Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts may be heard
As they march by that billabong
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
The last Anzac veteran of Gallipoli died in 2002.
I do not know, nor can I estimate exactly when I grew old, but here I am.
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