Mary Cai marched proudly on Anzac Day in Perth for her father Lie Yu, who fought on the Chinese frontline against Japan during World War II.
She wore her father's medals, while a black and white photograph of him as a young man was hanging around her neck.
"In 1939 he encouraged the other shopkeepers on his street in Singapore not to sell to the Japanese," Ms Cai told AAP on Wednesday.
Then he and three other men decided they wanted to do more, travelling to the Chinese frontline to fight off the encroaching Japanese Imperial Army in 1941.
"He was injured but luckily he survived," Ms Cai said.
She said her father was a "very quiet man, who rarely spoke about himself", but kept diaries about his experience, which Ms Cai says she has used to understand what he went through.
It was the first time descendants of Chinese veterans joined their World War II allies in the march.
In another first, current and former serving women were invited to march under one banner to highlight their sacrifice, but most chose to stay with their regiments.
Ex-army serviceman Trent Camin was among the crowd of about 6000 people watching the march from the sidelines this year.
Mr Camin, who served in Afghanistan, said he was taking a few years off from marching in the parade to help transition back to a civilian life.
"It's nice to sometimes stand from the outside. I'll march again next year," he said.
"It's great that the marchers are confident to be in front of all those people and show their banners and pay their respects on Anzac Day."
