D-Day veteran Kenneth Hay says it is the “duty” of those who served to return to the beaches of Normandy as the 82nd anniversary commemorations were underway.
Speaking to GB News, the 100-year-old reflected on the friends he had lost in the conflict and the “waste” of war.
4,441 Allied soldiers died during the titanic landing of 150,000 men across northern France on June 6, 1944.
When asked about how it felt returning to the beaches 82 years later, Mr Hay said: “I don't know, it's a difficult question to answer.”
“It's our duty to come back,” he added before discussing the cost of the war to his generation.
The veteran looked at the some 22,442 names carved on the British Normandy Memorial, which honours those killed from June 6 to August 31 1944.
“To a lot of people, this is just a series of names, and they are to us. But suddenly we come to a name, and we knew that guy", he said.
“That's one down there… I served with him. I knew what a lovely man he was.
D-Day veteran Kenneth Hay has said it is the “duty” of those who served to return to the beaches of Nomrany
|GB NEWS
“It's a waste that he died.”
“There's another guy who had left on a freighter, who was my signals officer… He got killed by a sniper before I even got over to France,” Mr Hay continued.
“What a wicked waste. Wicked waste.”
Looking at the scores of names, the 100-year-old said: “It's their right to be here. They've got more right to be here than I have. I'm glad they've been found.”
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The 100-year-old also reflected on the 'waste' of war
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“When we were here in April, they were still putting the names on. I made a point of coming over to the workmen to speak with them and thank them for their work.
“As we do when we go to the cemeteries, if there are any gardens about, local blokes, I go over and make sure I shake their hands and thank them for what they do for us.
“It is beautifully kept under the War Graves Commission. It's wonderful,” he added.
However, Mr Hay also had sombre reflections, noting that the lessons of the Second World War had not been learned.
“The powers that be are arming up for another one (war). It doesn't make sense.
“I bet God above is regretting every man his free will,” he added.