Amid the military pomp and solemn prayers that filled Newcastle's Civic Park, Vietnam veteran Michael Carmody remembered the four mates who he had lost in the past 18 months.
Each died of cancer, most likely from being exposed to the chemical weapon Agent Orange.
"We are all the same age. I'll probably go the same way," he said.
"It's disgraceful that the Australian government hasn't acknowledged how poisonous it was."
The rifleman, who saw action between April 1967 to March 1968, was among the first group of young men to be sent into a conflict that was largely ignored in Australia until recent decades.
The 76-year-old, who attended Monday's service alone, admitted to having mixed feelings about the direction of modern Anzac services.
"I think it's getting to the stage where it is becoming a Netflix production," he said.
"All of the elites turn up in their finery and lay a wreath. It should be about the Unknown Soldier. In England when they were marching past a memorial they would cover their medals because the people who had died were far more important than those who survived. We don't name anyone who was killed here but we name everyone else around town. It's the people who have died who are important like the 26 men from my battalion who didn't come home."
Earlier, one of the largest crowds in recent history turned out to salute the past and present members of Australia's defence forces who marched along King Street from Perkins Street to the city's mid-morning service in Civic Park.
A large contingent of the bumper turn-out was children, many of whom were attending their first Anzac Day service.
They included Arabella and Liam Jones, whose parents Peter and Savannah are keen for them to learn about the Anzac tradition.
"We think it's really important for them to have respect for those who have served their country," Ms Jones said.
There was also 14-month old Ellis Hill, whose great, great-grandfather, William Hopkin James, and great-grandfather, John Allenby James, served with distinction in the first and second world wars.
His grandmother, Amanda Duncan, said she was keen for Ellis to appreciate his family's rich military connections.
"Poppy served everywhere and got the Military Cross. Dad ended up as a brigadier and ran Camp Shortland and the Army Barracks at Adamstown," she said.
Ms Duncan's sister, Nina Stewart, said she hope younger people would continue to support Anzac day.
"I think the participation of younger people has made it (Anzac Day) a lot better," she said.
"If the younger ones don't support it, it will die off."
