How did you spend your Anzac Day? Did you attend a dawn service, perhaps have a few beers at the local RSA, or get out and enjoy the sunshine and freedom of a day off?

Or...did you join the Peace Action protestors who decided Anzac Day was the right time to protest war, holding up a sign in Wellington that said 'Lest we Remember, No NZ support for War'. They were also apparently trying to draw attention to their call for an independent inquiry into civilian deaths in the so-called hit and run case, to determine whether a war crime occurred.

I get that part and parcel with the freedom our soldiers fought for is the freedom to protest. But the 12 year old who challenged them put it best when he said “Do it tomorrow, do it the day before, do it any day, but today is wrong, wrong, wrong”.

He is so right.

I don't believe Anzac Day is about glorifying war. It’s about remembering the cost of war, remembering the people who lost their lives at war, and remembering why we should avoid another war at all costs. In essence, Anzac Day is about peace.

The protestors are right when they argue war kills civilians too so they need be among those who are remembered, but there are other ways of doing that. Anzac Day shouldn't be hijacked to draw attention to agendas. It’s worth remembering that not everyone who went off to war did so willingly, no one who waved them off was glad to see them go and no one heads off hoping to kill civilians.

My great grandfather extraordinarily served at Gallipoli, Passchendale and the Somme. He served again briefly in the second world war… and survived. My grandfather served in the Second World War, and thankfully he too came home.

So when I go to the dawn service, I want to remember them, and be proud of them. I don’t want to see protestors protesting war. I’m already at the dawn service because I’m opposed to war - in order for it not to be repeated we must always remind ourselves of the horror and the sacrifices.

I have another idea about what Anzac Day should be about. Service. Not service in the army, but service to your country all the same.

At a time where individuals are increasingly selfish, self absorbed and disinterested in community, let’s take the idea of the Student Volunteer Army and run with it - take an hour of your day and do something for your community.

Yesterday I had a lovely long walk on the beach, and while I was at it, I spent an hour picking up litter. Nothing major, I don’t deserve a medal or anything- but it’s something small and if we all do something small, it can become something big and something good.

Serve for New Zealand is about honouring our days of National Significance through service.

And it’s a heck of a lot more respectful than waving placards in the faces of those who still grieve for those lost at war.