FORMER prime minister Kevin Rudd has being among the hundreds of people to commemorate our military men and women at an Anzac Day dawn service in New York.

Mr Rudd, accompanied by his wife Therese Rein, spoke in front of one hundred rain-soaked Aussies, military personnel and church leaders at the service.

Trade Minister Steven Ciobo led the tributes and laid the wreath.

“We are here today to reflect on Anzac Day and all it means, for the sacrifices involved and for the recognition that Anzac Day holds such significant cultural relevance to the people of Australia and New Zealand,” Mr Ciobo said.

He also spoke to the bonds forged between the two countries and “our very good friends from the United States” and the “shared values” between the countries that have long been strengthened during wartime.

The event, which was hosted by the Australian and New Zealand Consuls General at the Vietnam Veteran’s Plaza in downtown Manhattan, has grown bigger by the year as expats look to commemorate our nation’s sacred day in the northern hemisphere.

After the service, dignitaries attended a memorial service at Trinity Church Wall Street which was followed by the Veterans’ Lunch at famed New York eatery, Cipriani

(Nearby Aussie cafe Bluestone Lane opened early, serving free flat whites and Anzac biscuits.)

At Cipriani, Australia’s Consul General to New York Alastair Walton, raised money for the American-Australian Veterans’ Scholarship Fund, which awards scholarships of up to $40,000 to support undergraduate or postgraduate international study for US and Australian veterans, while Admiral Mike Mullen was the event’s key note speaker.