Focusing on the Anzac myth eclipses other national stories of pain and struggle | Paul Daley

There are plenty of monuments to war dead but few to doctors and nurses who died saving thousands during the Spanish flu

This pandemic Remembrance Day offers a unique opportunity to more honestly parse Australia’s war experience and how its storification has eclipsed other national narratives of immense pain and struggle.

Very few things about war are certain. But here’s a couple. Politicians wage it. Young (mostly) men fight it. And when things go wrong these soldiers pay the price – with their lives or future wellbeing.

Related: 'We take no risks at all': a voice from the Spanish flu outbreak

Related: Australia's special forces problem: why the SAS is facing a crisis

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