Posted on 10/20/2002 7:15:13 AM PDT by knighthawk
Australians have turned out in force for today's national day of mourning, honouring the victims of the Bali bomb blasts.
Memorial services have been held across the country, while thousands gathered in Sydney's Domain for a ceremony of remembrance and celebration.
People of all faiths and nationalities came together to both mourn and celebrate the lives of those killed in the October 12 attacks.
In Canberra, the chief of the Defence Force, General Peter Cosgrove, joined the Prime Minister, the British High Commissioner and the United States Ambassador to Australia for a memorial service.
General Cosgrove spoke of his sadness.
"I feel like every other Australian, I feel a sense of great loss and injury and a sense of determination that the sort of thing these terrorists are trying to do will not prevail over Australians," he said.
In Sydney, those affected by the tragedy were among the 35,000-plus crowd in the Domain.
Penny Morgan lost four family friends in the tragedy and laid flowers on a Balinese water feature during the ceremony
"It's the biggest release we've ever had," she said.
"Letting go of the flowers it feels like all of a sudden we've coped with it."
Condolence books in each state have been filled, with floral tributes piled up at many memorial venues.
Authorities say the death toll from the tragedy is likely to be 180.
103 of those victims are believed to be Australians.
Coogee community
The New South Wales Premier, Bob Carr, has called on the community to remember the laughter, the vigour and the hope of those lost in the Bali bombings.
Speaking to over 2,000 people gathered at a special remembrance service at Coogee Oval, Mr Carr encouraged the community to mourn.
Eleven locals were killed in the attack.
Mr Carr says as families and friends battle with grief and anger, the community needs to remember and celebrate the lives of those who have died.
"Lives that once were pleasant, and honest and beloved by families, and team-mates, and girlfriends and boyfriends, and those who swam and played and ran beside them down those too few days they had upon this earth...we celebrate what we can," he said.
Six members of the local football club the Coogee Dolphins and five other local women were killed in the attack.
Mayor of Randwick Dominic Sullivan says the many local families have been torn apart by the tragedy.
Mr Sullivan says the service at the sporting ground is a fitting tribute to those who were lost.
"Often we come to this oval to show our support to our local teams, we are a proud sporting city, we come together as a community to say we care," he said.
"We come to pray for the victims and to share our grief."
Canberra
At one Canberra service, the Prime Minister and his wife lit candles on behalf of the grieving families.
The church was adorned with Balinese textiles as sign of solidarity with Australia's neighbour.
Professor John Moses urged the congregation to respond to the tragedy with compassion, not retribution.
"Revenge is not an option and must be held distinct from the pursuit of justice," he said.
Victoria
Hundreds of people have attended church services throughout Melbourne to remember the victims.
Inside St Patrick's Cathedral, about 800 people prayed and remembered the victims of the Bali bombing.
Reverend John Depuch told the congregation there was no justification for the blast.
"The Bali bombing is an atrocity offensive to God and humans alike," he said.
After the service, attended by politicians, football club members, consular generals, and both regular and one-off church goers, Premier Steve Bracks said the bombings must not change Australia's values.
"Make sure we keep those very values, of tolerance, of acceptance, of mutual respect, and the great multiculturalism we have here, to make sure that we keep that in the future," he said.
Western Australia
Western Australia's two senior representatives of Government have led a moving memorial service for victims of the Bali bombings at Government house in Perth.
Earlier today the Governor, Lt General John Sanderson, addressed worshippers at St Mary's Cathedral.
He then joined Premier Geoff Gallop to lead people at Government house and across Western Australia in a minute's silence.
South Australia
South Australian Premier Mike Rann attended a memorial service for two Sturt Football club members killed in Bali, Josh Deegan and Bob Marshall.
Up to 500 people packed into St Augustine's Church at Unley, with many more spilling into the church's courtyard.
Premier Rann says it is now a time for physical, emotional and spiritual healing.
"Here at the Sturt footy club, you could see like a family coming together and that's the way I think it is across Australia," he said.
Tasmania
A large congregation at St David's Anglican Cathedral in Hobart has taken part in today's national day of mourning.
Representatives of Tasmania's Parliament attended today's service.
Premier Jim Bacon addressed the service, offering his sympathy and support for the family and friends of Tasmanian man Tim Hawkins who was killed in the blast.
Mr Bacon told the gathering the people who died in the Sari nightclub were celebrating life and will now be forever young.
Queensland
Mourners at a special service at St John's Cathedral in Brisbane have been told to seek justice, not revenge, for the Bali bombing.
The congregation of 400, included the Premier, Peter Beattie, and the Govenor, Major General Peter Arnison.
The service started with a silent procession and a minute's silence.
Archbishop Dr Philip Aspinall told the congregation no words can do justice to the pain felt in the aftermath of the Bali bombings.
But he said Australians must contain their frustration and anger and not seek unnecessary retribution and revenge.
He said it is now important to reach out to the family and friends of those killed.
Northern Territory
The Bishop of Darwin says it is possible that those who died in the Bali bombings did so for a reason, and that Australia needed to be shaken.
Bishop Ted Collins told the congregation at Darwin's St Mary's Catholic Cathedral this morning that he felt exhilaration at the selfless action of so many people and the national show of compassion.
Bishop Collins says that despite the horror of the Bali bombings, he believes some good has emerged from the wreckage.
"Perhaps I'm strange, but I'm also very exhilarated at the wonderful way in which people have responded, to see that generosity, that sacrifice," he said.
"I was thinking of those people who died, maybe they have died for a purpose, maybe our nation needed to be shocked, just as America was really shocked last year."
Bali services
In Bali, both Balinese and westerners are holding services to honour those killed in the bombing and to cleanse the sticken area with Hindu rituals.
While rituals are still being held at the bomb site and on the beach, local businesses and store holders continue to pray individually for blessing after the tragedy.
The Balinese Hindus believe a violent event disrupts the harmony between physical and spiritual worlds and ceremonies must be held to restore balance as well as income to their businesses.
At a large-scale, multi-faith service held on the beach, Balinese signed a condolence book in which many apologised to their Australian friends for the bombing.
John Howard
The Prime Minister says the fight against terrorism must continue in the name of those who died in the Bali bombings.
Mr Howard has told Channel Nine he believes the Bali bombings were part of a worldwide terrorist operation which Australia can not combat on its own.
"We must remain committed to the broad war on terrorism because this is part of it," he said.
"I can't understand how anyone can argue that you can respond adequately in the name of the scores of Australians who were in Bali without being part of the worldwide war against terror because I in my heart don't believe this is an isolated incident."
Australia has held a day of national mourning for the victims of the Bali night-club bombing - more than half of whom were Australian.
Relatives of the victims placed flowers at a memorial ceremony in Sydney...
... a Balinese woman also laid a floral tribute
Like many, Prime Minister John Howard and his wife Janette wore the national flower, wattle
Sports teams across the country marked the minute's silence
The Sydney suburb of Coogee, which lost six members of a rugby team, released white doves
Rugby players wept for team-mates cut down, as one put it, when "hell happened" in Bali
American survivor Denise Richie, who helped the injured and comforted the dying, attended a ceremony in Darwin
A supporter of Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir wears Osama Bin Laden t-shirt at a hospital in Solo, central Java 20 October, 2002. Indonesian police arrested Bashir on 19 October saying he was a suspect in a bombing case. The largest Islamic group said on Sunday it supported new anti-terror decrees introduced after the Bali bombing, as U.S. president vowed to help track down the killers of almost 200 people. AFP photo
Not sure how to contact the Australian embassy to send a note of condolence. I'll check Google.
Does anyone know what the population of Australia is? I'm guessing about a tenth of the U.S. population. The massacre in Bali was like the Oklahoma City bombing in scale, but per capita, closer to the World Trade Center, I think.
Anyway my heart goes out to the families and the nation of Australia and the other countries, including the Indonesian island of Bali, that suffered losses.
Embassy of Australia
1601 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington, D.C
Link to leave a note of condolence at Australian embassy then click on "general" on the list on the left side.
Incidentally, Mason had his indwelling catheter removed last week and the doctors don't anticipate any further chemotherapy or IV medications will be needed. Hopefully, he is completely cured now after the bone marrow transplant last spring for his leukemia. Thank you all for your prayers which moved Heaven.
Kill them all! I am so sick of the evil and the arrogance of these jerks!
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