Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Eric Excell was, to me, a hero. Like all of us, he made many mistakes but, his last words to me were, "I am happy that I have lived long enough to see you come good, I miss your Mother so much, I want to go and be with her." One month later he was dead. He had known only one woman for all his life, my Mother. They married and stayed married for all of their lives and it was indeed death that parted them.

I am now approaching the time when my life will end. In looking back, I now realise, that most of the practical things I know or do had their roots in what my Dad taught me in the brief time that we had together.

He served his country during World War II. He told me that his reason for joining was not heroic but that he needed a means of feeding his family. He had tramped the tracks for so long during the depression that for the rest of his life he was not afraid of dying, but was terrorfied of being unemployed.

May you indeed rest in peace my Dad. If anyone should read this story I would pass this on to you. Deuteronomy 5:16 "Honour your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you; that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which the LORD your God gives you." In this statement their are no qualifiers. It does not matter if they were, in your estimation right or wrong. Honour them.

Andrew Keith Excell. 09/07/2015.