The astonishing story of the inaugural winner of the Marsh/Tierney Scholarship winner will serve as added motivation for a contingent of trekkers taking on the Kokoda Track with The Nationals Member for Morwell, Martin Cameron, next month.
Kurnai College student Amelia van Vliet has been awarded the Marsh/Tierney Scholarship, which provides our younger generation with an insight into the Gippsland connection to the Kokoda Track, and the sacrifices made by soldiers from the local area.
Amelia will join Mr Cameron, other Victorian Members of Parliament and scholarship winners on a trek of the Kokoda Track with Adventure Kokoda during the July school holidays.
“Amelia’s story and her motivation for wanting to take on this challenge is truly amazing, and I was touched by her essay which described her deeply personal connection to the Kokoda Track,” Mr Cameron said.
When Amelia was just one-and-a-half years old, her father Euan Comrie wanted to honour his great grandfather – who served in Commando Double Black – and walk the Kokoda Track.
Tragically, on the flight to Kokoda the aeroplane carrying Amelia’s dad and nine other Australians crashed into a mountain and there were no survivors.
“I would like to continue the dreams of my father, and honour him and my great grandfather, and walk the track so many before me have walked,” Amelia wrote in her essay.
“My mum honoured by dad’s memory by walking the track on the 12 month anniversary of his death – my older brother and sister were able to attend the memorial service that occurred on the anniversary, however I was only one-and-a-half years old and my mum made the decision that I was too young at the time to make the journey.
“This leaves me with a feeling that it is now my turn, that this is an opportunity for me to commemorate my dad and finish what he started.
“When my mum walked the track, she placed a plaque in my dad’s honour at the hospital in Kokoda and I would love the opportunity to see this for myself and follow in their footsteps.”
Amelia and Mr Cameron will now ramp-up preparations for the gruelling Kokoda Track by tackling some local hiking trails under the guidance of Amelia’s mum, Annemieke.
