Congratulations, Hayley 
Congratulations are extended to Hayley Bosustow (9 Moynihan) who has been successful in being one of 10 students selected this year in the State Premier's ANZAC Tour Competition.
This competition involved Hayley responding to the essay topic 'What would it have been like growing up in a family affected by war?'
The Premier's ANZAC Student Tour invites recipients to become an ambassador and represent Western Australia on a commemorative overseas study tour. In 2022, the Premier's ANZAC Student tour will travel to Albany and Darwin to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin, and 105 years of the ANZAC legacy.
The tour will visit important historical sites including the National Anzac Centre, WWII Oil Storage Tunnels and Darwin Aviation Museum before attending ANZAC Day commemorations in Darwin.
Hayley is a very deserving recipient, and we know she will be an excellent ambassador for both our State and College.
Mrs Cheryl Aisnworth
Humanities and Social Sciences Teacher
You can read Hayley's essay below:
Growing Up In A Family Impacted By Sending Soldiers To War – Hayley Bosustow
The experiences war brings about can change lives; the lives of the soldiers who leave to fight during the war, the lives of the families of soldiers. Specifically, their children and the way they are brought up. This concept was something my own family has experienced, with my great – grandfather serving in World War 2 as well as both my grandfather and family friend, Mick O'Halloran, serving in the Vietnam War. Drawing on Mick's experience, and the stories of others who had been impacted by the war has had a tremendous personal impact. In particular, Camryn Jordans, a singer and songwriter who wrote the song 'The Stars In Your Eyes', conveying the experiences of soldiers and their children during the war, has left a personal legacy. It soon became clear to me that growing up in a family impacted by war, through sending loved ones off to fight, causes financial and emotional hardship, and being raised to be more obedient, resilient, and grateful.
"She was just a young girl when he left to fight. He promised he'd be home soon to tuck her in at night". These words from the song 'The Stars In Your Eyes' convey the experience that families have in sending loved ones to war, and one of the things that comes with this is financial hardship, which impacts what it is like to grow up in a family effected by sending soldiers to war. Families of soldiers can struggle financially whilst they are at war, especially during both World War One and Two; given that society was male – dominated and only men were allowed to fight, the main source of income for families was gone. Whilst pensions were granted to families if a soldier died at war, they didn't equal the amount that they would earn if the soldier was still alive. This is seen through the story of Lucy Empson, whose father passed away serving in World War One. Lucy and her mother received a pension of 22 shillings per week, however this didn't compare to the average wage of males during this time, which was 26 shillings. Given the shortage of money and the inability of Lucy's mother to find a job due to gender inequality at the time, the family struggled to make ends meet, and this meant that Lucy had to grow up without a lot of things, and live a simple life – the reality for many who lose family during war. Therefore, we can see that growing up in a family impacted by sending soldiers to war meant having to go without and live a simpler life due to financial hardship.
"On her 15th birthday, it came out of nowhere. The soldier lost his fight". These are powerful lyrics from Jordans' song, reflecting the fact that people lose family fighting in wars, including children losing parents, which shapes what it is like to grow up in a family impacted by sending soldiers to war. My family was fortunate in that both Mick and my grandfather returned home from the Vietnam War, and my great – grandfather returned home from World War Two. However, this wasn't the case for 521 Australian soldiers in the Vietnam War, and 27, 073 Australian soldiers in World War Two. This was obviously upsetting for their families, and it was particularly hard on children who lost a parent. It meant that they had to grow up without them, and with a sense of sadness and emptiness that comes as a result of that. Whilst pensions were granted starting from World War One, no amount of money can compensate what it would be like for a child to grow up with their parent alive. Therefore, we can see that growing up in a family impacted by sending soldiers to war can mean a great deal of sadness and emptiness.
"Since he's been home, it's never been the same. The sparkle's gone in his eyes, and there's sadness on his face". These lyrics from 'The Stars In Your Eyes' demonstrate the toll war can take on soldiers, and how children can lose their parents in a sense that they are changed through war, impacting the way children in families impacted by sending soldiers off to war grow up. Mick O'Halloran says that "war experience does change the way you think and behave", and that he believes he was "too strict with my three boys, mainly because of the military discipline that had been ingrained into me". As he implied, children of soldiers are raised to be more obedient and resilient than other children, due to their parent's experiences at war. Mick says that he "struggled with many things after returning home from Vietnam", and seeing their parents go through that can impact children, and one of the ways that it does is making them more grateful, as most problems they face don't compare to what soldiers go through. Given that, we can see that growing up in a family effected by sending soldiers to war can mean being more obedient, resilient and grateful.
In conclusion, growing up in a family that was impacted by sending their loved ones off to fight meant that you experienced financial hardship, emotional struggles, as well as being more obedient, resilient, and grateful than most other children are. This became clear to me through the experiences of my family and my family friend, Mick O'Halloran, and others in our society, including singer Camryn Jordans, through her song 'The Stars In Your Eyes', and the story of Lucy Empson. Whilst there is no doubt a great deal of difficulty involved in growing up in a family that is impacted by sending loved ones to war, I believe that it is also a blessing to be able to learn from those who have served our country, and the experiences of my relatives who have done so have shaped my family, and the values that I have been brought up with.
Bibliography:
Australian War Memorial. (2021). Vietnam War 1962 - 75. Retrieved from https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/event/vietnam#:~:text=Overview,and%20over%203%2C000%20were%20wounded
Jordans, C. (Producer and Director). (2014). The Stars In Your Eyes - Camryn Jordans Original [YouTube]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJx4jToH8Ak
My Learning. (2019). A Family At War. Retrieved from https://www.mylearning.org/stories/how-the-first- orld-war-affected-families/796
Wikipedia. (2020). Australian Casualties Of World War II. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_casualties_of_World_War_II#:~:text=Over%2027%2C000%20Australians%20were%20killed,in%20accidents%20during%20the%20war
Acknowledgement to Mick O'Halloran, Vietnam veteran, for his interview conducted via email on 3/6/2021.
View map
