It's ANZAC day

April 25 is the day when everyone in Australia and New Zealand takes a holiday in commemoration of all the Australian and New Zealand servicemen who gave their lives to war.

It is special this year because it commemorates the 100th anniversary of the disastrous landing at Gallipoli, Turkey.  As the editor of the DomPost observes, because it is a "special" Anzac Day, "large crowds of New Zealanders are turning out to remember."

And, as he (or she) comments, "this might seem surprising.  Everybody now knows that the Gallipoli campaign was a bloody military fiasco. It ended in ignominious defeat.

"It cost the lives of 2800 New Zealanders."

So why celebrate the mess?

Because its a day that brings New Zealanders together.  Maori  bravely fought and died alongside their pakeha mates, and fellow Aussie soldiers.  It made the cohesion that we now call "Anzac."