The greatest generation is slowly fading into eternity. It’s more important than ever to listen to their wisdom.
And now a D-Day veteran gave a warning of what’s to come that Americans need to hear.
Century-Old D-Day Veteran Says Britain’s Sacrifice Was in Vain
Alec Penstone, the 100-year-old Royal Navy veteran who cleared mines ahead of the Normandy landings, told Good Morning Britain that the country his comrades died for no longer exists.
“My message is,” Penstone told the hosts, “I can see in my mind’s eye those rows and rows of white stones — all the hundreds of my friends who gave their lives. For what? The country of today? No, I’m sorry, but the sacrifice wasn’t worth the result of what it is now.”
“What we fought for was our freedom,” he said. “But now it’s a darn sight worse than when I fought for it.”
WATCH:
'What we fought for was our freedom, even now [the country] is worse than it was when I fought for it,' says 100-year-old World War II Veteran Alec Penstone. pic.twitter.com/M9HSsS5sIW
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) November 7, 2025
Churchill Portraits Removed, Grooming-Gang Inquiries Blocked
This year the Labour government quietly removed portraits of Winston Churchill and the Duke of Wellington from Parliament buildings. Churchill’s image was also taken down from Portcullis House.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has declined to launch a national inquiry into the Pakistani grooming-gang scandals that victimized thousands of girls, dismissing calls for investigation as far-right rhetoric.
When Elon Musk highlighted the issue, Starmer labeled it misinformation.
A Cautionary Parallel for the United States
Many Americans see Britain’s trajectory as a warning.
Statues of Founding Fathers have been removed in several cities, school curricula now question the nation’s founding principles, and debates continue over border security, free speech restrictions, and selective prosecution.
Veterans’ groups and commentators point out that the same patterns, erasing historical figures, downplaying serious crimes for political reasons, and redefining national identity, appeared in Britain years before they reached this intensity.
Alec Penstone’s words remind both nations that the freedoms secured at such cost can slip away not through invasion, but through gradual indifference. The question now facing America is whether it will heed the lesson while there is still time.
