He had never missed a memorial ceremony in Orange and he wasn't going to let COVID-19 get in the way of that.

After serving in the Australian Army from 1954 to 1959 and as a long-standing member of Orange's Vietnam Veterans Association, paying his respects to all those who had served was a duty Mr Bettles didn't take lightly.

"It means a lot to me. My uncle never came back (from the First World War) and my father was in the merchant navy. Another uncle served in Malay. So it means a lot to me to come down here on Remembrance Day," he said.

"I come to Anzac Day, I come to Vietnam Veterans' Day (and) I was all always going to come today.

"They fought for our country and they never returned."

Mr Bettles was far from alone in his sense of duty. There were few vacant seats at the occasion, with many others taking shelter under the trees from the heat of the sun.

Once the day's official, sombre proceedings had concluded, some of those in attendance shared fond memories of their own time in the services.

Barry Collins was just 15 when he joined the Australian Navy and started an apprenticeship in aircraft maintenance in 1957.

"You don't have have to fix up (all the aircrafts though)," he laughed, referring to the ones that would overshoot the runway "and go in the water".

"Make sure you get the pilot out and that's all you've got to worry about. We had a bad habit of doing that."

It got to be an expensive habit when the aircrafts were worth between "50 and 80 million" dollars, he added.

After the navy, Mr Collins had lived in Singapore for several years before moving to Orange with his young son in 1992.

On Wednesday, the veteran reflected on that time with young Singaporean and international student, Sam Chan.

Before arriving in Orange to study dentistry in February, the 20-year-old had been in the national service since he was 17.

Mr Chan said it was his first time attending a war memorial service since he had arrived in Australia.

Upon discovering their shared connection to Singapore, Mr Collins told the story of how his own son - who was born in Singapore - had discovered national service was mandatory there.

After finishing high school at Canobolas High School and then university in Newcastle, Mark Collins had returned to Singapore for what was intended to be a short holiday to see his mother.

Instead, the 27-year-old was arrested at the airport and drafted into the army for two years.

A decade on, the younger Mr Collins still lives in Singapore after marrying and having a family there. He now works at the airport, his father said.