Commentaries

Fri, 20 May 2011 09:25:51 +1000

• Rob Oakeshott: Once again, an honour to share our history.
• Elyse: Thank you for everything
• Jayme: Thank you for making this a memorable experience
• Jihad: Your passion has brought new meaning to our lives and honoured inspirational men. Thank you.
• Jimi: Thank you for a story that wouldn’t be told (this is the one with the long hair)
• Katherine: It was of utmost pleasure to share this life changing journey! We will keep teh story strong.
• Brett Johnson: Thank oyu for all your effort in getting the story right.
• Channel: A wonderful experience and opportunity
• Scott Morrison: you brought their story to life. It will live on for all Australians. Thank you.
• Sally: Thank you for passionately bringing to life teh Sandakan Death March
• Luke: I can now remembert hese soldiers of Sandakan and I iwll never forget them
• Issa: Thanks for all your great work
• Sam: Thank you
• Jason Clare: Thank you for everything Lynette. You are an Australian hero. We take the torch you lit and promise to burn it brightly.
• M. ?? (can’t read surname): You were inspirational
• James: Thank you

JASON CLARE

May 4, 2011 14:25

Before starting the trek, i had never heard of the Sandakan Death Marches or what occurred. But instead of just reading about it , i thought it was great that the whole group experienced it in real life. Having to cover 90km in 5 days, walking for over seven hours each day was a challenge in itself. I underestimated its difficulty and found myself struggling, as many of us did.

But, as i started to trek through the jungle, it really struck me. We were walking in the footsteps of the soldiers that were tormented and put through excruciating agony. We were lucky, we had food, water and clothes. They didn’t. We knew that at the end of the day we had somewhere to go home to. Most never saw their families ever again.

It became very emotional by the fourth day, especially when my POW, Ronald Sullivan passed away all those years ago. I felt like it was my duty to keep continuing and to keep his spirit alive.

One of the purposes of the trip was also the Mateship. Without supporting each other, i don’t know how we would have made it through to the end. By the end, twelve people who never knew each other until a week ago, became not just friends, but family. In the end we were all proud of ourselves and each other. We had done it.
I believe that by doing the trek it has given me an understanding of what happened in unexplainable  ways. Researching it is one thing, but doing it is another. The story of Sandakan is one that needs to be retold over and over again, so it is never lost. This is now my responsibility to tell people what happened and to keep the story alive. Coming home i appreciate things more and appreciate what these soldiers did for us.

Lest We Forget

Katherine Kopsaris

May 2, 2011 14:07

The Trek was truly an amazing experience. I was able to learn so much about the horible experiences our diggers went through thanks to you and your team. If it werent for your boys none of us would have been able to make it to the end. Since coming home I appreciate life so much more knowing what those men went through for us, and without you and your team we would still know nothing about it.

So from the bottom of my heart I thank you Tham, Lynette and the boys for giving me one of the best experiences I will ever have in my whole life.

Michael Cuciti