Anzac Day is a day of honouring the service and sacrifice of Australias servicemen and women, past and present.

It begins with haunting Dawn Services across the nation which lead to the large community marches later in the morning.

These commemorations are marked by periods of silence broken by the echoing bugle renditions of The Last Post and Reveille.

They are a chance for communities to come together to remember some of our nations darkest moments and the heroes who led us through them.

They are important.

Increasing, though, Anzac Day is also becoming a day of raucous celebration, particularly in the afternoon.

Our major football codes schedule some of the biggest matches of the year for Anzac Day, knowing they will attract full stadiums and bumper television audiences.

Each of those matches begins with a short Anzac service before the action breaks out on the field and the beers start flowing in the crowd.

Many pubs and clubs turn over their floors to heaving two-up crowds to reflect the popular war-time pastime of many of our Diggers overseas.

Again, however, the mood is less one of commemoration and more one of celebration a jarring juxtaposition on such an important day.

Its hard to to escape a nagging feeling that maybe we are straying too far from the original meaning of Anzac Day, and a campaign started last year by the leadership team at Bathurst RSL is aiming to right that wrong.

The Respect The Day campaign urges people to take more than a moment to reflect on the spirit of Anzac Day as a time of reflection rather than rowdiness.

And what started here in Bathurst last year has now been rolled out across the state to ensure we continue to honour the true meaning of Anzac Day.

Its so much more than a day off work and a day to get on the drink.

We dont honour the sacrifice of servicemen and women by getting boozed up and making a nuisance of ourselves.

They may have fought so that wed have the freedom to carry on like clowns, but that doesnt mean we should.

For one day, at least, we must all be better than that.