April 25 is a significant day for people all over the country as they commemorate Anzac Day, and for one returned serviceman in particular it holds an added element of importance.
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Dubbo RSL Sub-Branch vice president Jeff Caldbeck will be joined by his son Brendan as the two generations of servicemen take part in Anzac Day services in Dubbo. Mr Caldbeck teared-up as he explained the pride it brings to march next to his son; an experience he wishes he had shared more of with his own father who served in the artillery during WWII.
"Emotional. Totally emotional, to have my son with me,” Jeff said. “You grab it with both hands.
"I supposed because I never marched as much as I should have with my dad – he was away on the coast and I was inland and it all at times was too hard.
“While he was alive I should've marched more with him because that was the one day of the year that means so much to servicemen.
"Anzac Day is so special.”
For Brendan the experience of marching with his father is something he hopes to share with his own son one day.
“It's good to come back and march with dad, two generations marching together,” Brendan said.
It's good to come back and march with dad; two generations marching together.
- Brendan Caldbeck
“I have a son as well, so who knows in 20 years time he may join the military too."
A 16-year-old Mr Caldwell joined the Navy as a junior recruit in 1969. He was shipped to HMAS Leeuwin in Fremantle and was eventually identified as a sonar operator.
“I spent most of my life at sea,” he said. “It was wonderful."
At one stage Mr Caldwell worked under the leadership of Tom Gray who unbelievably lives two doors down from the Caldbecks and is president of the Dubbo RSL sub branch.
Brendan went on to join the Army in 1998 and was deployed to Suia, East Timor in 2002 in Australia’s first major deployment since Vietnam. He currently works on the Armed Reconnaissance helicopters as an aircraft technician in Darwin.