From Down Under, a musical lesson in patriotism

While wandering around Europe many years ago, I met a fellow lone traveler at a drizzly train station in Bavaria — an Australian named Jennie.

Two strangers, we rode together to Innsbruck, Austria, and strolled along the Inn River. We met for breakfast the next morning, and after exchanging addresses, said goodbye and went our separate ways.

We haven’t seen or spoken with each other since that day in October 1983 but have stayed in touch through letters and email. Last week she sent me a link to a music video featuring the Australian country singer Lee Kernaghan. The song is called “Spirit of the Anzacs,” the title track of his chart-topping 2015 album about duty, sacrifice and courage.

It’s a spirit, Jennie says, that seems to be needed now.

Kernaghan’s inspiration came from the Australian War Memorial, where he saw letters written by servicemen and women as far back as the Gallipoli campaign of the First World War. Here, I’m sharing his video tribute to the men and women of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. I hope it will touch your heart as it did mine.