‘It Still Haunts Me’: Military Veterans Keen to Share Their History as Numbers Drop

Royal Canadian Air Force veteran Bill Cook, left, describes his first combat mission as fellow veteran Hank Jackson, 102, looks on in Calgary, Nov. 7, 2023. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

The time around Remembrance Day is tough for Second World War veterans like Hank Jackson, who turns 103 in January.

“It’s the only time you really stop and think about all the poor buggers that didn’t make it,” said Jackson, a former tail gunner on a Halifax bomber.