NEW YORK (VINnews) — As Remembrance Day (Known in the US as Veteran’s Day) approaches, a clip of a 100-year-old British World War II veteran has gone viral after he lamented that the current state of the United Kingdom was not the one he and his comrades fought for in World War II.
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Alec Penstone served an extensive career in the Royal Navy, having been aboard the HMS Campania during the D‑Day invasion. As people across the British Commonwealth don the poppy to commemorate soldiers who died since World War I this Remembrance Sunday, Penstone was asked on “Good Morning Britain” what the day means to him.
“My message is, I can see in my mind’s eye, rows and rows of white stones, of all the hundreds of my friends and everybody else, that gave their lives – for what?” he replied to the show’s hosts. “The country of today… No, I’m sorry, the sacrifice wasn’t worth the result that it is now.”
“The sacrifice wasn’t worth the result it is now. What we fought for was our freedom, we find now it’s a darn sight worse than what it was when I fought for it.”
100-year-old World War II Veteran Alec Penstone gives a damning verdict on modern Britain. pic.twitter.com/N6yeFkhlLw
— Turning Point UK 🇬🇧 (@TPointUK) November 7, 2025
Penstone explained why he felt this way:
“What we fought for was our freedom – we fought for it. Even now, it’s a darn sight worse than when I fought for it.”
Penstone was apparently referring to the police crackdown on free speech which has led to numerous arrests over social media posts considered inciteful and divisive by authorities.
Fix the headline. WWI ended 106 years ago. There are no more veterans of that war alive. There are a few WWII veterans alive, and that’s what this one is.
Glad he has a chance to speak out.
How do you know he’s referring to the free speech issue n England?
Next up- Civil War Veteran speaks out against President Lincoln freeing the slaves.