Rowan Light, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
A national day for commemoration of the New Zealand Wars has struggled for attention and public engagement. So did Anzac Day once, and its survival can provide useful lessons.
Poppy wreaths placed around the Cenotaph on Whitehall.
David Burrows|Shutterstock
Politicians wishing to stoke divisions invoke the Cenotaph knowing it will be a successful gambit because so many find solace in its meaning.
Vice President Mike Pence joins military officers and a chaplain on Aug. 23, 2019 in a prayer for two Army men who died during operations in Afghanistan.
AP Photo/Cliff Owen
When the US entered World War I in 1917, military chaplains catered to majority white and Christian soldiers. Today the armed forces recognize over 200 denominations and religious groups.
Memory can serve as a heavy reminder of the past. Indigenous people gather in Shubenacadie, N.S., in June 2008 to remember the residents of a former residential school and the abuses they suffered.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mike Dembeck