JOSHUA and Lachlan Pleszkun are the sons of a soldier and memories of their dad’s fallen mate dominate their thoughts every Anzac Day.
The boys recall setting off on a family holiday in 2008 when their father Chris, now a signals instructor at Cabarlah’s Borneo Barracks, near Toowoomba, received a terrible phone call.
“It was when we were going camping,” Lachlan said.
“On the way there, the army called us and told us Sean had been killed.”
The soldier they spoke of was their father’s colleague Signaller Sean McCarthy, who was killed in a roadside bomb attack while serving in Uruzgan Province in Afghanistan.
Joshua and Lachlan said their dad had spent many long periods away from his family in the past six years while on deployment to East Timor and Afghanistan.
The 10-year-olds were surprised when school principal Michael Newman called them up in front of all their school mates at St Mary’s College, Toowoomba, during the school’s recent Anzac Day ceremony.
A medal recognising their efforts in helping out at home with their mum and older sister was presented to each twin.
On the medals was inscribed, “For perseverance on the home front during your parent’s deployment”.
The boys said they were just happy to have their dad working close to home.
“We go to the park and play a bit of soccer,” Joshua said.
“Sometimes we go to his soccer training,” Lachlan said.
