Five-year-old Alex Hopkins stretched out his tiny arm and placed a red poppy on the war memorial's Roll of Honour.
The significance of the moment seemingly lost on the little boy, his mother all too aware her son will never know his dad.
Alex's poppy rests next to the name of his father, Corporal Mathew Hopkins, who was killed in 2009 while fighting in Afghanistan.
He was 21 and Alex was five weeks old at the time.
On Remembrance Day, Alex was returning to Canberra for the first time since his dad's name was inscribed on the Roll of Honour in 2009.
"He's grown up knowing his dad only through photos," his mother Victoria told AAP.
"But he knows who his dad is and that's the best I can do for him."
Ms Hopkins and Alex were among almost 4000 veterans, family members, dignitaries, diplomats and others who attended a national ceremony to mark the 96th anniversary of the World War I Armistice on Tuesday.
They were joined by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove, Veterans Affairs Minister Michael Ronaldson and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.
Former prime minister John Howard delivered the commemorative address, praising troops for always defending what Australia believed was right.
"We should never apologise for the stand that we've taken in the past or the stand that we take now in defence of the values of this country," he told reporters after the ceremony at the Australian War Memorial.
School children from around the country travelled to the nation's capital to lay 102 poppies on the remembrance stone in recognition of Australia's 102,000 war dead.
Shari Coughlan, from Picton High School in rural NSW, was chosen after her school ran a competition to best describe what the experience would mean.
Four members of her family died in battle and on Tuesday, she was hoping to find them on the Roll of Honour.
"It's amazing," she told AAP.
"I know that my parents and my family members are really proud of me."
And around Australia, cities and towns paused for a minute's silence at 11am.
Six thousand people paid their respects at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, while 1000 people gathered at the Cenotaph in Sydney.
Wreaths were laid at Perth's memorial in Kings Park, while 300 people attended the state War Memorial in Adelaide and G20 preparations were put on hold for a minute as Brisbane stopped for its service at ANZAC Square.
For Ms Hopkins, the day was "overwhelming" but her young family was supported by hundreds of others who have lost loved ones to war.
She brought Alex to Canberra because he's starting to understand his father's death.
A simple explanation is offered to the five-year-old: "Daddy was fighting against bad people and he saved a lot of lives".
For Ms Hopkins, it's not much more complicated than that.
"Matt believed in the work he was doing over there," she said.
"To me, that means he didn't die in vain."
