When I heard that the memorial wall in Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan, honouring the 40 Australian soldiers who’ve given their lives during our longest war is going to be painted over, then demolished and buried, I was gutted. And I know other diggers are too. We can’t let it happen.

For those who have served in Afghanistan, and their families, it is not just a monument - it is their mates and fellow soldiers, their children and their parents. And if it’s not brought home, the families of the fallen will never get to see the memorial honouring their deaths. We can't let this happen, like it did in Iraq.

In 2008 I was deployed to Iraq in the final surge. A deployment like that takes a toll, the conditions are tough. But one of the things we held dear was the “cav bar” - a place that had the names of all the cavalry and 2/14th LHR troops on the walls and specially made plaques honouring them -- it was an important part of our history. So much so, that we were promised it would be brought back to Australia.

It was something that I would have been able to take my family, and especially my son, to see in years to come. But that can never happen now. Before we had that chance, the cav bar was bulldozed.

That’s how I know a big public campaign is important, if we don’t make it clear how important this is, we won’t be able to save it.

This memorial wall in Afghanistan is even more important because it lists the names of all who have fallen. To not bring this home is, I believe, something that we just can’t let happen. There is a reason we have memorials like this, it’s so we honour, and never forget, those who never made it home alive. I’ve already seen in the media that this matters to the families of those on that wall, and that the War Memorial Council wants it brought back too. Let’s save it.

It’s the same memorial that the Prime Minister laid a wreath at when he declared the war in Afghanistan was over earlier this week. On behalf of Young Diggers, who know how important this is, please sign this petition to save the Memorial Wall that honours our diggers, and have it come home with the troops before the end of the year.