VJ Day Speech

Sunday 14 August 2005

I greet you all. Ex-servicemen and women. Your children, grandchildren and extended families.

I also greet our distinguished guests.

Today I am principally greeting those here who went to war and survived.

I stand here today and think about my dad, Norm Moore, who is unfortunately no longer with us. Dad volunteered to serve New Zealand in 1939 and on this day 60 years ago he started to pack his bags as he prepared to leave the armed services. During the war he met my mum in the Air Force and so when peace came they got married. Just as many of you did.

Dad didn't like talking about the war. He talked more to my kids than he did to me or my siblings.

Today we remember those long war years and we thank you all and, especially at this time, we remember and thank the sons and daughters who left these shores and did not return.

Wouldn't it be wonderful for us to stand here and rejoice 60 years after the end of the Second World War that the world was at peace. We can't say that unfortunately. Things seem to be getting worse and worse every time we turn on our television or radio. The peace that you so valiantly fought for throughout the world is becoming increasingly elusive. I'm committed to addressing this as a civic leader.

It's a good time to think about the Second World War and what we did, or didn't, learn from it this far away from the event. I arrived back from Japan yesterday. Christchurch is a Peace City and I'm a member of the world wide organisation called Mayors for Peace.

At our Mayors for Peace meeting in Hiroshima last week we were addressed by a hibakusha, a survivor of the nuclear bomb. The term literally means "fried one" and he carries terrible scars from that day in 1945. In his address he said:

"….When Japan lost the war, we realised the faults of militarism. Moreover, we learned that Japan caused great distress and sorrow. I believe that the basic responsibility of war lies with the Japanese government. Though the Japanese Government started the war I, myself, deeply repent the war as a Japanese who lived through it, even though I was only a boy at the time. (He was 14 in August 1945). I was taught that killing people was the right thing to do and I believed it. I think having such an idea was totally wrong even though I was taught so, and I now deeply repent this."

What an amazing statement to be made from an elderly Japanese bomb survivor to several hundred Mayors from around the world.

In an article in a major Japanese paper last week another elderly Japanese author wrote and I quote:

"……so many of the young men of my generation were incited by the militarist government to march proudly into battle and give their lives. The families left behind were praised for their sacrifices to protect the home front and as "military mothers"- a term deemed to carry high honour. But, in reality, what a devastating tumult of pain, grief and misery swirled in the depths of mother's, and families, hearts. A mother's love, a mother's wisdom, is too great to be fooled by such empty phrases as "for the sake of the nation."End quote.

Without a backdrop of peace, which you all so fervently and valiantly fought for, there can be no meaningful international relations. Without peace there can be no international trade Without peace our children will never know, and experience, their peers of other cultures. Without the peace you sought there could be no more world. The nuclear arsenal stored around the world would enable us to blow this planet up many times over.

That’s why I stand here today actively involved in Mayors for Peace. In 1939 to 1945 you had to take up arms to protect our freedom. Today I'm playing this city's part using the power of moral persuasion city by city as we struggle to stay friends across the globe. I guess you could say that I'm waging a war of words and activities to reduce the odds of our children being forced to fight a war with weapons. City by city we promote peace and friendship. City by city we will hold hands and say to the nation states that we do not believe in war. City by city we will resist terrorists. We won't turn to violence as a solution to the world's problems. City by city.

Your actions set the standard, veterans of the Second World War. Today we stop, remember those who have gone before us and thank you all.

Thank you.