Gore service people of all ages who have "put their lives on the line" for the country in conflicts around the world will be commemorated as the Gore RSA gears up for its Anzac Day service on Saturday.
The Gore RSA has 245 veterans, of these 93 are service personnel who have returned from conflict, and 152 who have or are currently serving, including one World War 2 veteran still in the district today.
Gore RSA president Bradley Bridgman said service people in the Gore district had been deployed to World War 1, World War 2, Vietnam, Malaya (now Malaysia), Iraq, Afghanistan and Timor.
There was a stereotype for a veteran that did not hold up in the modern age, he said.
"Veterans aren’t just Granddad, the old grey-haired man in the corner any more. We’ve got veterans of all ages, [from] all walks of life."
He said the RSA was made up of people as young as 25 and up to about 95 years old.
Sacrifice was characteristic in service people across generations, and that had held up today, Mr Bridgman said.
"They have have paid a massive price for our freedom … And that should not be forgotten.
"Those people that are … still serving … they have signed the dotted line and they’re putting their lives on the line for us."
Locals are encouraged to wear a past family member’s medals on the right-hand side to commemorations which start at dawn on Saturday.
Attendees who want to march in the Gore Anzac Day parade can meet at the Gore RSA at 12 Bowler Ave at 6.15am, or outside Quins Pharmacy in Main St by 6.30am.
The parade will march from the pharmacy to the cenotaph on the intersection of Mersey and Main Sts.
The service is expected to wrap up by about 7am.
Guest speakers on the day include the Commanding Officer of the 2nd/4th Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Gareth Seeds, Gore Mayor Ben Bell and Mr Bridgman.
For the rest of the day members of the RSA committee will visit rest homes and other organisations, then hold private services for veterans at Charlton and Gore cemeteries, where poppy crosses will be laid in remembrance, Mr Bridgman said.
