‘No greater gift for Gregory’
A rehabilitation centre for Australian soldiers, providing transition, education, employment and community programs for Australian war veterans and their families has been named after Private Gregory Sher, who was killed on duty in Afghanistan in 2009.
A REHABILITATION centre for Australian soldiers, providing transition, education, employment and community programs for Australian war veterans and their families has been named after Private Gregory Sher, who was killed on duty in Afghanistan in 2009.
The Gregory Sher Reintegration and Recovery Centre in Parkville was officially opened by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove on Sunday, in the presence of Sher’s parents and family, senior military personnel, federal Veterans Affairs Minister Dan Tehan and MPs.
Part of a network of reintegration centres around Australia, the new centre is operated by Soldier On, a support organisation for Australian military veterans.
Cosgrove, a retired senior Australian army officer, said: “So many servicemen and women come back bearing the physical and mental scars of duty. And for the 4000 or so who leave the Australian defence force every year, the transition to civilian life can be a difficult one. In so many ways, coming home can be just the beginning of dealing with injuries and disabilities, of coming to terms with psychological and emotional trauma, of building a new life, a new career, and reconnecting with family, partners and children.
“The Gregory Sher Reintegration and Recovery Centre will add to Soldier On’s work, supporting the future of veterans who come home. Unfortunately, Greg didn’t make it back. There was no welcome home for him, no opportunity to plan for the future.
“I want to mention my admiration for the Sher family, of course, in their obvious love and remembrance of their son, but in particular, from my own observations, of their sympathy and compassion and affection for others who are in the same place as them. I’ve watched them in their embrace of bereaved loved ones of other soldiers who have died serving Australia,” he said.
Private Sher’s father Felix Sher told the gathering: “There is no greater gift for Greg and our family than to have a rehabilitation centre named in his honour. The very premise of such a centre correlates precisely with the type of person that Gregory was. He was always ready to help others, always ready to give rather than take.”
John Bale, CEO of Soldier On, said: “On leaving the defence force, the loss of your team, your unit and your position is one of the greatest stresses that a veteran can go through … The Gregory Sher centre and our network of facilities around the country will help re-establish these deep social connections for the veteran and their family.”
PETER KOHN
comments