ANZAC Day can be tough for former Army reservist Major Jo Harding.
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She was in Rwanda on Anzac Day, 1995, as part of the Australian Defence Force medical Support Force.
One of the world's worst massacres had happened a week earlier and Jo was worried about her countrymen's whereabouts.
Peacekeepers were deployed to the Kibeho displaced persons' camp, 200 km from the Rwandan capital, Kigali.
The camp, holding about 100,000 people, was surrounded by two battalions of Tutsi troops from the Rwandan Patriotic Army, who regarded the camp as a sanctuary for Hutu perpetrators of a 1994 genocide.
The army killed some 4000 of the camp's inhabitants. Many were trampled to death, some were shot, and some were hacked to death with machetes.
A specialist in critical care nursing, Jo worked 48 hours straight after the massacre. She recalls an Australian soldier risking his life by standing between Tutsis and Hutus as they slaughtered each other, yelling: "No more".
"He was challenging angry and ruthless soldiers without firing a shot," Jo said.
"One group just walked away after that.
"It was an incredible act of bravery."
Jo said the Rwandans, particularly the children, were incredibly brave and resilient.
Jo was in Dili, East Timor, on Anzac Day, 1999.
She remembers joking with New Zealand colleagues in the intensive care unit she ran.
Hours later, news filtered through that a vehicle with New Zealand troops inside had crashed, killing one person and injuring another.
There was some debate as to whether two-up should be cancelled, but in true Anzac spirit, the day went ahead.
"The sense of fellowship with the New Zealanders was particularly strong," she said.
"We lost Aussies and Kiwis and we looked after the sick and traumatised Kiwis.
"It was full-on.
"It was very special for all of us to continue that long-standing tradition."
Jo comes from a defence-orientated family, with every generation serving operationally since the Boer War.
She left the Army Reserve in 2002 after 10 years to focus on a PHD in blast trauma.
Apart from Rwanda and East Timor, Jo has carried out research in Bougainville and visited England and Northern Ireland as part of a Prince of Wales award.
Her husband, Jackson, a doctor and also an Army reservist, won the Prince of Wales award some years later.
Jackson is the guest speaker at the Eaglehawk RSL Club today, while Jo will talk at Bendigo.