“In the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them, lest we forget,” Stevens said.

The sun had freshly risen on Saranac Lake’s World War I Veterans Memorial Park on the corner of Church and River streets, and a company of locals and Australians were gathered there to commemorate the 10th Anzac Day ceremony in Saranac Lake.

ANZAC is an acronym for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The day is similar to Memorial Day or Veterans Day in the U.S. and has been held on April 25 since 1916.

The village of Saranac Lake has recognized Anzac Day every year since Australian Army Capt. Paul McKay, 31, from Adelaide, walked up Scarface Mountain in the snow on New Year’s Eve in 2013 to die.

Saranac Lake village Mayor Jimmy Williams raises flags at the Anzac Day ceremony on Thursday morning, as locals and members of the Australian military salute. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

McKay had been a battle captain in Afghanistan and suffered from PTSD.

Why he chose to come to Saranac Lake has always been a mystery, even to McKay’s mother, Angela, and his late father, John.

Stevens said he spoke with Angela recently and that she couldn’t thank the people of Saranac Lake enough for continuing to remember her son. He also personally thanked the community for their work searching for McKay when he went missing, and helping Angela and John spread his ashes on the mountain a year after his death.

He said it means a lot to the Australian military, and especially Angela, that Saranac Lake keeps the Anzac Day tradition and the memory of McKay alive.

In two decades of fighting in Afghanistan, 46 Australian soldiers died in battle and 1,600 active soldiers and veterans died by suicide.

Australian Defense Force Maj. Mathew Stevens lays a wreath in honor of Paul McKay, an Australian Army captain, at the Saranac Lake Anzac Day ceremony on Thursday morning. McKay died on Scarface Mountain in 2013 after suffering from PTSD. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Saranac Lake Village Mayor Jimmy Williams, a veteran of the U.S. Navy himself, said McKay “made the hardships of war real” in Saranac Lake, especially the battle that many face when they come home.

“War is a living creature that becomes a part of every one person who participates. It does not end when the treaty is signed. It lives on in a way that affects each human differently,” Williams said. “I believe it is healthy to be reminded of how fortunate we all are, that life is beautiful, and that some part of our own good fortune is due to the selflessness of others.”

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History

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Australian Defense Force Maj. Mathew Stevens and his family speak with local veterans and Honor Flight organizers Barrie Finnegan, John Tibbitts and David Gload at the Saranac Lake Anzac Day ceremony on Thursday morning. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Anzac Day marks the “baptism of fire through blood, bullets and bombs” the ANZAC Corps experienced in their first campaign, in Turkey’s Gallipoli peninsula in World War I, Stevens said. It was a “resounding failure,” he said.

Stevens said the U.S. and Austrailian militaries have been linked ever since the 1918 Battle of Hamel in France. This was the first action where Australian soldiers would be led by an Australian general, Lt. Gen. John Monash, an engineer known for his meticulous planning.

Monash had seen wave after wave of humans sent to die on this front and he knew armor and artillery was not enough.

He had the idea to combine all branches, including the air forces, which was “unheard of” at the time, Steven said.

Stevens said Monash knew they needed more infantry. The British leadership didn’t want to participate, and though Americans had just landed in the area, their general did not want them to be led by an Australian and ordered them not to fight.

On Wednesday, Australian Defense Force Maj. Mathew Stevens, kneeling, hiked up Scarface Mountain with Saranac Lake village Mayor Jimmy Williams, retired state Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Ranger Scott van Laer and retired DEC Forest Ranger Capt. John Streiff, Allison Stevens, Jacob Stevens, 13, Lilly Stevens, 10, and 3-year-old mini-dachshund Frankie to pay their respects at a memorial for Paul McKay, an Australian Army captain who died on the mountain in 2013. (Provided photo — Allison Stevens)

But Monash asked them to join, and several company commanders defied their orders and fought with the Australians, Stevens said. The 93-minute battle was a significant victory for the Allied forces.

Stevens said cooperation and brotherhood was forged that day, and the U.S. and Australian militaries have called on each other ever since.

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The hike

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A memorial for Paul McKay, an Australian Army captain who died on Scarface Mountain in 2013, is seen with memorabilia on Wednesday. (Provided photo — Allison Stevens)

Stevens made the annual hike up to McKay’s memorial on Scarface Mountain on Wednesday with his family — his wife Allison, their son Jacob, 13; daughter Lilly, 10; and 3-year-old mini-dachshund Frankie — Williams, as well as retired state Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Ranger Scott van Laer and retired DEC Forest Ranger Capt. John Streiff, who were part of the search in 2013.

As rain turned to snow, they left mementos at a small wooden cross and rock cairn marking the place where he died.

This was the second year Stevens and his family made the hike, as he is the official representative for the Australian Army for the ceremony while he is stationed in Washington, D.C.

But this was their last official Anzac Day in Saranc Lake. Stevens said he will be returning to Australia in January.

He said traveling here to remember and honor McKay’s life on behalf of his country has made a bond and formed friendships that will never leave him.

The Stevens family plans to return to Saranac Lake once more before they go back down under, to experience what they hope will be a white Christmas.

An account of last year’s hike up Scarface can be read at tinyurl.com/36tkyt2p.