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Heroes Day is unique, with multiple strands forming a critical moment each year.
It is a day of remembrance, commemoration and mourning, for those who fought and those who died for Zimbabwe’s freedom; it is a day of rededication to those ideals of national unity, of a people pressing forward to victory over many obstacles and it is a day of hope, that Zimbabwe can and does produce the sort of people who won those victories.
All three strands are important for the work of creating, of fighting for, a free country where everyone can live to their full potential is never finished.
And sometimes that fight is difficult, and sometimes, as there were in the past, there are those who will sell their birthright and betray their friends for money, not even for conviction.
But it is never impossible; it’s never not worthwhile; and it’s something that has to be fought every day by every person of good will.
We need to remember those who fought the battles in the past, the sacrifices they made, and the victories they won. We need to look at what they fought for, not just a free and independent Zimbabwe, but one that would be better for everyone.
We need to look at those who have risen among us since the victory, who are still rising among us, and who are fighting their own battles in their own way for that better Zimbabwe.
The special celebrations on this day recognise all strands. They take place in the national and provincial heroes acres, cemeteries where heroes lie buried among the monuments.
But, in the speeches and prayers, we all try to make those deaths mean something, by recommitting ourselves. And this year the third strand comes to life with the award of medals today to a new generation of Zimbabweans who, in many different areas of life, picked up the baton and ran with it.
The sites are important. The liberation struggle was in so many ways the central point in Zimbabwean history, dividing what had come before from what came after.
Those terrible sacrifices not only won Zimbabwe its independence, but did so against tremendous opposition, brutal opposition, and showed all Zimbabweans that there was nothing we could not do if we decided we needed to do it.
We need to remember what happened, and why it happened, and why so many saw it as their duty to go and fight, even when they also knew just how many were likely to die. Unless we understand all of that we miss the critical new start that struggle gave Zimbabwe.
This ties up with the rededication. There was real national unity in that struggle. There were many differences of opinion, and many contributed in other ways than carrying a gun.
But in general, although some fell short, the overwhelming majority wanted the struggle to succeed. We saw that in the first election where those who persisted in the struggle were the winners of almost all the votes.
National unity does not mean, and should never mean, that we all agree on everything. But what it does mean is that we should share that vision of a free and independent country where we, not others, make the decisions and where we, not others, chart our future.
Sometimes our disagreements get built up into something that should not exist, a nation where we do not accept the democratic right of Zimbabweans to chart their own way forward.
The rededication is also necessary to grasp that great lesson from the liberation struggle. That we do not have to rely on others to build our nation: we can do it ourselves and as we are the ones who know what sort of nation we want, we should do it ourselves.
This may involve a lot of hard work, perhaps suffering, but the reward is that we, or those who are accompanying us on our journey, will see the victories.
And we need to remember that it is a journey. The liberation war was not won in a day. It was a long bitter struggle, with reverses as well as victories, and yet many persisted to death or the end.
That is why the extra element this year, the awards to new heroes, is so important. Previously we have seen awards for gallantry to members of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces involved in protecting our freedom against banditry and in operations outside the country in defence of the rights of others.
That is right and we must never stop doing this, or devalue these new acts of valour.
But there are many others, outside the military and many walks of life, who are making their mark and showing us the old spirit still lives and lives well. It is right that these are included in the celebrations and their names added to the lists of the Zimbabweans we honour.
These new names on the lists show that the spirit of heroism, and the spirit of wanting a better Zimbabwe, are not dead or dying.
They live and are flourishing. For unless that spirit continues to live the sacrifices of those in the past will be wasted; they opened the doors and no one went through.
This new list shows that we are going forward and are walking through the doors that so many died to open.
We are keeping the flame burning.
Online Reporter