THE bell tolled from Customs House and a sweeping searchlight from Fort Scratchley marked the start of a day of remembrance as thousands of people huddled at Camp Shortland for this year's Anzac Day Dawn Service.
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Punctuated by a four-gun salute and the sound of waves crashing at Nobbys, the annual day of reflection began with solemn poems, wreath-laying, and hymns.
For Stockton man David Croft - who was 21 when he was conscripted to serve in Vietnam, where he was part of the army's Royal Australian Regiment Second Battalion in 1967-68 - the day is of utmost importance.
He lost a close mate to friendly fire and saw the horrors of war - but when he returned home, like others who served in Vietnam, he faced being shunned for almost two decades until the Welcome Home parade in 1987.
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"From 1970 to 1978 I didn't ever tell anybody I'd been to Vietnam because I wasn't welcome in the RSL, you never knew how people were going to treat you," Mr Croft told the Herald after the Dawn Service.
"It was a very sad time. The government sent us. It wasn't our fault. I had the choice of going to jail or into the army."
But what he and his fellow soldiers went through forged mateship that has lasted the better part of a lifetime.
Mr Croft said he had kept in touch with his section commander, who died last week. His funeral was held yesterday.
And after many years without contact, a phone call out of the blue in 2013 from another man in his battalion reignited a lost friendship. The pair still speak on the phone every week.
"We went to the Welcome Home march - he marched, I didn't because I couldn't," Mr Croft said.
"We went to the hotel afterwards and had a few too many beers and lost each other's phone number. That was in 1987. In 2013, he found my phone number and rang me and we've been mates ever since."
During Thursday's service, prayers were led by Newcastle Anglican Diocese Dean The Very Reverend Katherine Bowyer and Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle Bishop Michael Kennedy.
The Anzac Flame was passed from the senior generation to the junior one.
Newcastle lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said in her address that Anzac Day was a time to remember those who fulfilled "dangerous but vital roles" of service.
"Today we commemorate those who sacrificed so much that we might be here today," she said.
Meanwhile, about 130 people finished their 20km walk from Redhead to Nobbys as the Dawn Service was about to begin as part of the Trek4Vets initiative to raise awareness and funds for veterans' mental health.
Organiser Dave Rugendyke said it was a "great night" and all trekkers made it safely to their destination.
