A 100-year-old WWII veteran's answer to the question 'How do you stop wars?'
Eight decades after the D-Day landings, a 100-year-old veteran still needs to take sleeping pills because of the ‘horrible things’ he saw during the fighting in Normandy
In 1946, Colleville-sur-Orne in Normandy changed its name to Colleville-Montgomery in honour of General Bernard Montgomery and the troops who liberated France after the D-Day landings, 82 years ago today. Yesterday, members of the Jedburgh Pipe Band processed through the town as a service of remembrance was held in the presence of two 100-year-old veterans, Ken Hay and Henry Rice.
Both still visit schools to tell their stories. However, Hay said: “When I talk to children, I have to weed out the horrible bits. There's some horrible things that stay forever. I have sleeping pills for the night because it all comes back. And this happens to all the guys, I'm sure."
He said he was “stumped” by one 13-year-old girl’s question: “How do you stop wars?” But then, “Saint Paul came to my rescue... I said to her 'Love. Love yourself, your friends, your family at home, the people you met today, the people you met yesterday'. If we could all do that, there'd be no wars."
A simple, non-political message that seems hugely relevant to today’s politics and our fractious world.
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