A CEREMONY has recognised the efforts of thousands of Australian soldiers who have served with United Nations Peacekeeping Operations.
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The Bendigo District RSL Sub-Branch hosted the small ceremony on National Peacekeepers' Day.
Australia has had peacekeepers in the field with the UN continuously for more than 50 years including in Indonesia in 1947, when Australians were part of the very first group of UN military observers anywhere in the world.
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Joe Day, who served as a peacekeeper in a number of operations, said the day provided a chance to reflect.
"Over the time thousands (of Australians) have been involved in peacekeeping," he said.
"I think that the public needs to remember peacekeeping is continuous and it's a really important function in the world, especially now.
"Without the peacekeepers being around, we would have a hell of a lot more wars going on now than what we're seeing and it's already bad enough."
Mr Day first served overseas in a peacekeeping mission in the Middle East.
"It's completely different to war service. I think it's kind of more special, because the name says it all," he said.
"I was in a monitoring group which was all about observing and reporting on activity, making sure that two opposing countries are doing what they say they're going to do to keep each other apart. So that was sort of physical peacekeeping.
"It is varied. Sometimes it's just humanitarian assistance, providing health services to refugee groups. Other times it's providing security - more the peace enforcement side of it like in East Timor, where you used much more physical power to keep the peace."
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