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Hundreds of thousands of Australians gather in the darkness before dawn around Australia to honour those who have fallen.

Anzac Day is a sacred day in the Australian and New Zealand calendars, when we honour those who gave their lives at Gallipoli, ostensibly for the nations’ security.

There are disagreements about that idea and the unnecessary loss of life, but there is no disputing the recognition and remembrance of those who fell. Their sacrifice is remembered on Anzac Day with a grand national gesture, powerful dawn services, the Last Post and the the ode of remembrance.

The veterans of the world war that followed “the war to end all wars”, and of the many international military operations since, have joined the ranks of older veterans.

Most know that war is absurd and, occasionally, necessary if just. Unjust wars now blight the world: Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the Israeli assault on Gaza and the US attack on Iran are some of the many conflicts that defy logic and common sense, and critically, the laws and traditions of military engagement.

The history that Australians call on to create a vision of the nation forged in sacrifice, honour and the right to freedom and peace has become one of the nation’s most enduring legends, the quintessential nation-building myth.

Amid all the talk about Australian “values”, this legend is the one that unites the country in observance and memorialisation like no other.

Last year and this year, the sanctity of dawn services has been ruptured by nasty louts booing the welcome to country delivered by traditional owners.

Last year in Melbourne and again on Saturday, Bunurong and Gunditjmara elder Uncle Mark Brown was booed. In Sydney, Uncle Ray Minniecon, an elder and pastor whose ancestry includes the Kabi-Kabi and Gurang-Gurang peoples of Queensland and South Sea Islander people, was booed. In Perth, Whadjuk and Noongar elder Aunty Di Ryder’s welcome was heckled.

In these cases, the morons booing were encouraged by the Fight for Australia movement. The group had urged people to write to RSLs demanding that welcomes to country be ditched. On Friday, the group wrote online: “Will you be booing the welcome to country this year?”

Uncle Ray is himself a veteran, and his ancestors have a recognised tradition of serving their country from the first world war, which initiated the Anzacs, to the present day.

He proudly wore his medals as he delivered his acknowledgement of country in Sydney. Aunty Di is a veteran, too.

The majority attending the services raised their voices and clapped to support the speakers and drown out the vandals.

Vincent Williams, RSL NSW’s acting president, was disgusted and said out loud what most of us are thinking.

“I’m pretty convinced that none of that bunch of louts who were booing has ever done anything constructive for our nation,” he said.

Mark Schroffel, the RSL Victoria president, said the welcome to country recognised First Nations “traditions and service”.

“Those that did the wrong thing showed they are weak-minded individuals who do not belong at this service,” he said.

What Uncle Mark, Uncle Ray and Aunty Di know, and what the elders of the RSL know, is that over 118 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men served in the Australian Light Horse during the first world war, often as skilled stockmen who thrived in Middle Eastern desert conditions.

Despite initial enlistment bans based on race, many enlisted after 1917, notably serving in the 11th Light Horse Regiment (the “Queensland Black Watch”). So far, we know that the total number of Indigenous Australians serving in the first world is almost 1,000 – and research continues.

From the Boer war on, Indigenous Australians have served, first for the British Imperial Army and then the Australian Defence Force in every international mission.

To dishonour their memory – and our debt to the many thousands of Australians who have given their lives for this country – in this despicable and ignorant way is a moral crime.

These men and women of Australia, Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, and all the others, fought together, watched their comrades die, and are united by that bond of service.

The morons who tried to snatch the sacred moment away from them, and those of us who observe with them at dawn services, deserve more than contempt and a few words of rancour.

They should be named, photographed and banned from all future Anzac Day services. If the AFL can ban disruptive racists, the police forces of Australia should similarly be able to deal with these people.

• Marcia Langton is a Yiman and Bidjara woman from Queensland. She is a laureate professor of Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne