For years she didn't feel appreciated, but on Wednesday Nicole Bradley's contribution to Australia's defence forces was acknowledged.
Ms Bradley was part of a group of approximately 50 women drawn from the Army who took part in this year's Anzac Day march through the streets of Brisbane.
It's the first time Ms Bradley, who proudly displayed the medals earned during her 22 years of service in the Army, has taken part in a march.
"You don't feel like your service is validated," Ms Bradley told AAP.
"When I was thinking about marching at other times, I didn't know where I would march."
Ms Bradley was part of the 'By the Left' group, as this year's march recognised the contribution of women to defence forces.
It was a similar scene to those in the state's north, with ex-service women leading the Anzac Day parade in Cairns for the first time.
While the thousands who had lined the streets in Brisbane clapped the procession through the city, overhead fighter jets soared through clear skies - a stark contrast to the heavy clouds that hung overhead at the dawn service.
Dawn in Brisbane was a muted affair for the thousands who came to the city's Anzac Square with umbrellas.
Governor Paul de Jersey reminded the crowd, which filled the nearby streets and overpasses, of those Queenslanders "who sacrificed their tomorrows for our today".
"This morning we remember the men of the Australian imperial force, crouched together in boats on the other side of the world, 103 years ago, awaiting their call to battle," he said.
"Among those men were many Queenslanders of the brave 9th battalion, the first recruited in Queensland, among the first ashore that day, among the first to die."
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk marked the occasion by laying a wreath at the Shrine of Remembrance.
On the Gold Coast, one of the state's most well-attended dawn services again drew a huge crowd.
A crowd of 25,000 people attended the service at Elephant Rock in Currumbin, which marked the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.
The beachfront service, with Elephant Rock lit up in red, included the traditional burial-at-sea of veterans' ashes by surf lifesaving rowboat crews and a fly-past from military aircraft.
Later, Anzac Park at Southport's Broadwater Parklands became a sea of colour as girl guides, boy scouts, and members of the rural fire service and other institutions joined veterans in the biggest march on the Gold Coast.
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