Village Mayor Clyde Rabideau opened the ceremony at 11 a.m. at the World War I Memorial at the corner of River and Church streets, after having hiked Scarface Mountain with a group of veterans, forest rangers and others in remembrance of Australian Army Capt. Paul McKay.

“It’s a unique and very special day,” Rabideau said, “not just in Saranac Lake but in two other nations that have had our back — and we theirs — for over a century.”

Helen Demong sang the United States and Australian national anthems after the U.S., Australian and New Zealand flags were raised.

“The 25th of April, Anzac Day, is more than a national Australian holiday,” said Sgt. Malcom Ryan from the Australian Office of Military Attache, “but rather, a fundamental Australian and New Zealand tradition.”

Retired Army Major Gen. Robert Kulsulke speaks at a fundraising luncheon to support St. Joseph’s Addiction Treatment and Recovery Center and Homeward Bound Adirondacks on Thursday at the Hotel Saranac. (Enterprise photo — Jesse Adcock)

He said that wherever Australians and New Zealanders are to be found today, they’re likely gathering in remembrance of the actions taken by ANZAC, or Australia and New Zealand Army Corps, in the first world war.

“In 1915, Australia was a young country that had only achieved federation 13 years previously,” Ryan said. “Australians as a people, and a nation, were struggling to define what it meant to be Australian.”

He said that the Gallipoli campaign and the rest of the war left an indelible mark on Australia, helping to cement its sense of identity. At the conclusion of the war, Ryan said, a quarter of a million Australians, out of a nation of 6 million, had become casualties.

“The bonds of camaraderie, and helping out your mate in difficult times, collectively known as ‘mateship,’ follow Australians through the various conflicts of the 20th century,” Ryan said.

McKay served in Afghanistan. At the end of 2013, he arrived in Saranac Lake.

“How or why Paul chose this town has never been and will probably never will be explained,” Ryan said. “What is known is that his presence and actions would forever forge a bond between the people of this town and Australia.”

He said that the people of Saranac Lake exhibited all the finest qualities of mateship in searching for McKay after he went missing in January 2014. After a two-week search, he was found dead atop Scarface Mountain. His death was ruled a suicide by hypothermia.

“And once tragically found, (Saranac Lakers) farewelled Paul like one of their own,” Ryan said. “Post-traumatic stress is a debilitating and insidious disease — difficult to live with and even harder to treat.”

Ryan said that as he and other veterans could tell you, McKay’s story is not an uncommon one in the veteran community.

“I would therefore like to conclude with this sentiment: I would like to commemorate those who sacrifice and suffer as a result of war,” Ryan said. “Please lend a thought to the McKay family — because for them, every day is Anzac Day.”

The village’s support of Anzac Day continued in the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Saranac, where a fundraising luncheon was held to support two Saranac Lake-based nonprofit organizations: St. Joseph’s Addiction Treatment and Recovery Centers, which has a special program to treat veterans suffering from addiction and post-traumatic stress, and Homeward Bound Adirondacks, which offers support services and healing retreats to veterans and their families.

“In the last few months, the village has provided the first actual home for Homeward Bound, in the form of a $1-a-year-rent for a building that is right near the train station,” St. Joe’s CEO Robert Ross said. “It can become a focus point for veterans, and veteran activities.

“I’m pleased to announce that one of the things we’re working on right now is a partnership with Paul Smith’s College to use a couple hundred acres of their land in Onchiota for wilderness retreats for veterans.”

The luncheon’s featured keynote speaker was retired Army Major Gen. Robert Kulsulke, who summarized the history of the Gallipoli campaign and its effects on military strategy in the early 20th century.