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PERTH, WA: June 20,1996
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ary's hosts nation's grief
By Colleen McGuiness-Howard Pain and a sharp sense of loss were never so evident than at St Mary's Cathedral last Tuesday during the ecumenical Memorial Service for the 18 soldiers of the Special Air Service Regiment and 5th Aviation Regiment who died in the training accident on Wednesday night, 12 June near Townsville in Queensland. Tears flowed freely from women, men and children alike, from politicians, and some army personnel at the waste of young manhood in the air disaster, among whom were sons, husbands, fathers, and friends. But what was also apparent was the great sense of unity and somehow, peacein-togetherness in the shared grief in the cathedral where aisles and side altars were packed with mourners. The Governor-General of- Australia, Sir William Deane and his wife, Lady Deane, attended along with Prime Minister John Howard, Premier Richard Court, Opposition Leader Kim Beazley, the Governor of Western Australia, Major
General Jeffery, the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant-General John Sanderson, heads of churches - including Archbishop Barry Hickey, 18 chaplains, members of the Australian Forces, and many hundreds of mourners. The brilliantly decorated sanctuary was aflame with the red uniforms of the Australian Army band Kapooka - who filled the cathedral with magnificent music - and an altar ablaze with red flowers. Eighteen army berets were laid in a row on the altar's edge, each with a red rose, representing the dead servicemen. After the haunting sadness of the Last Post, there was a two minutes silence during which there was a spectacular RAAF fly past over the cathedral in honour of fallen comrades. At service's end, 18 comrades of the dead filed onto the sanctuary to retrieve the roses representing their unit dead, and bowed to the altar before leaving. "Heroes," as Major General Jeffery described their comrades, because they had given their lives for their country, just the same as those who died in battle.
'Search and destroy' tests on babies By Peter Rosengren A Perth disabled advocacy group has alleged that a foetal abnormality diagnosis support network is advising that the killing of unborn disabled children is neither right nor wrong. The Support After Diagnosis of Fetal Abnormality network, was launched last week at King Edward Hospital. Disabled Advocacy Group spokeswoman Monique Bertino-Clarke, who attended the launch of the network, said this week she and her husband were appalled by statements made at the launch, including one that the killing of disabled unborn children was neither right not wrong. The decision to kill an unborn disabled child was justified as an impossible one, but one which had to be made, she alleged. She said the Disabled Advocacy Group also rejected the claim made at the seminar that the widespread use of genetic screening to eliminate disabled children was having no effect on the status of those allowed to survive. Mrs Bertino-Clarke said her group was well aware of the discriminatory and hurtful comments increasingly being directed at parents of children with Downs Syndrome and other disabilities as to why they had not had tests to determine if the unborn child was disabled. "People say 'why didn't you have the
test?'" she told The Record. "And if parents have the test then they're pressured to abort the child." 'Mrs Bertino-Clarke, who has a child with Downs Syndrome, said that "search and destroy" genetic testing was effectively treating babies with disabilities as less than human and as enemies to be eliminated. Disabled Advocacy was already aware of many parents who felt pressured to abort their babies after testing revealed a possible abnormality. Additionally, some false positive testing results from amniocentesis were causing the abortion of unaffected children, she said. The Disabled Advocacy Group already knew of parents who, when diagnosed with a disabled unborn child, were told they had 72 hours to make up their mind as to whether they should abort it. "It's a whole search and destroy mentality. The only reason they're searching for these babies is to eliminate them," Mrs Bertino-Clarke said. She said her group was looking at the possibility of organising counsellors with a pro-life perspective for parents faced with a pregnancy that could result in the birth of a disabled child. A spokeswoman for Genetic Services of WA, the unit based in King Edward and Princess Margaret hospitals which sponsored the launch of the network, refused to comment on the allegations other than to reject them as inaccurate and insensitive to parents.
SAS soldiers retrieve roses placed in memory of their comrades from St Mary's attar
Chaplains support bereaved, and the Army supports the chaplains By Colleen McGuiness-Howard The death of 15 Special Air Service Regiment soldiers last Thursday meant Australian Defence Force chaplains such as Father Peter Whitely of Bateman, Deputy Senior Army Chaplain Western Region, had to deal with the sadness of helping tell family members their loved ones were dead. These included a young woman who, with one soldier, had intended to announce their engagement this Sunday, and the young wife who lost her baby by miscarriage a few days before she also lost her husband. A chaplain for 15 years, Fr Whitely, along with local RAAF chaplain Fr Michael Gatt of Manning and 15 other chaplains representing various denominations, were called in to console the bereaved, all coordinated by Perth Uniting Church Minister and SASR chaplain, Captain David Jackson. Within one and a half hours of notification of the tragedy, the 17 chaplains were organised to go out individually early Thursday morning, along with two soldiers, to break the news to the families and roved ones. It's part of the military procedure that a chaplain always accompanies members of the Forces to notify families of bad news. Frs Whitely and Gall said that never were they needed more than during those visits. The role of the chaplain seems to be very Important in those situations to notify service families and friends, support them, and ensure they receive on-going support, they said. What the chaplains really appreciated, Fr Whitely told The Record before last Tuesday's memorial service, was the fact that the army worked very hard to support all families "and many sections of the army responded wonderfully to assist them, with their psychologists, army community services and so on." There was also great sadness for some of the soldiers
Fr Peter Whitely
having to inform families of their own friends who'd died. "We had our own grief to contend with as well as theirs and then trying to support the families of the unit members," Fr Whitely said. What had emerged out of the tragedy was the unity of Australia from top to bottom, Frs Whitely and Gall said, and the cooperation between chaplains of all denominations, with prayers being said in parishes throughout WA. The principal Australian Army chaplain, Canberra-based Catholic priest Father John Butler, told the Perth assembly in his homily that support was a human endeavour, but hope was divine. Support touched emotions - but hope touched the soul. "We need to know that those who die have a future; that physical death is not an end, but a change; that human life is not just a brief endeavour, but that it flows on to a better life." Because troubles, difficulties, sadness and sorrow come, "and it is only through death that we can attain perfect happiness; where our soul can be in the hands of God and no torment can ever touch us." Archbishop Hickey reflects - Page 2