Seventy-seven years ago, the sounds of machine gun fire and exploding grenades were common place throughout the Owen Stanley Ranges in the Papua New Guinea Highlands.
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Today the only physical evidence of this brutal conflict is decaying plane wreckages and slowly caving bunkers that were once home to Australian soldiers.
Related Further: Rare Cancers and Highland cyclists fighting against cancer
Keeping this important part of history alive, between August 11-21, five members of the Australian Defence Force Diving School along with two Southern Highlanders retraced the battle fields of Papua New Guinea.
They embarked on a pilgrimage that saw them cover 156 kilometres along the Kokoda Trail, culminating at the village of Kokoda. The primary reason for this pilgrimage was to support Rare Cancers Australia in their efforts to raise much-needed funds to continue supporting victims of rare cancers and raise awareness of these insidious diseases.
Navy trekker, Chief Petty Officer Cameron Schmid said he was motivated to do the fundraiser after losing his father, grandmother and grandfather to various forms of rare cancers.
"So far, we've raised more than $20,000 and donations are still coming in," Officer Schmid said.
"The trek was harder than I thought it would be, and there was definitely a sense of satisfaction at the end."
Able Seaman Josh Lee also had personal motivation for doing the fundraising trek.
"Doing the Kokoda Trek was something I'd always wanted to do, but on a more personal level, I wanted to help out," Mr Lee said.
"I recently lost my grandfather to cancer, so this was a mixture of being able to help raise money for the cause and also ticking an item off my bucket list."
Owner of Coffee Culture in Bowral and Mitttagong Chris Petersen and Community Engagement Manager for Rare Cancers Zac Hulm attended the trek and Hulm can't wait to go again.
"No matter how much pain and suffering we went through on the trail, it's nothing compared to what our patients and carers go through every day," Mr Hulm said.
"Kokoda was a challenging, magnificent, emotional and life changing experience especially knowing that my fellow trekkers had many similar experiences and achieved not just physically but, emotionally and mentally.
"Rare Cancers Australia are excited about the success of the 2019 Kokoda Trek4rare challenge and are excited about our preparation for 2020.
"I'm also really grateful for the effort and contribution that Chris put in. He really is a great person in the Southern Highlands community."
Rare Cancers is a Bowral based organisation and works nationally improving cancer sufferers lives.
To support Rare Cancers Australia visit www.rarecancers.org.au.
