At 98, Jack Sealey can still turn out for the military.
He'll be cutting the ribbon at a ceremony in Queanbeyan to mark a hundred years of the Legacy organisation which looks after the families of veterans.
He joined the RAAF on his 18th birthday on November 26, 1943 and served as a rear gunner on Sunderland flying boats hunting German submarines.
Eight decades later, he is unheroic and matter-of-fact. "It's not a very interesting story," he says falsely.
"We did what was needed. We were there when we were needed."
The job of the flying boats was to patrol the Atlantic and the waters around Britain searching for U-boats. They would track across the ocean sometimes for as along as 12 hours. "It was a long sit," the airman says.
The casualty rate in No 10 Squadron RAAF was low compared with that of his comrades on the Lancasters bombing Germany.
"I lost a lot of mates in the air force through the bombing raids over Germany. I lost a lot of them. I lost my best mates," he says, still remembering them through photographs of them on his walls.
With the war over, and in the heat of celebration, he met the woman who would become his wife and the mother of their three sons.
On September 19, 1945, Warrant Officer Jack Sealey wed Aircraftwoman Grace Boyt in Plymouth in the west of England where the two were based.
The bridal party had to be pressed into service. It consisted of the manageress of a club and two sailors, one from New Zealand, the other a Newfoundlander. Jack sailed back to Australia soon after and Grace joined him the following year.
"We had 53 years together," the widower says.
After the war, Jack worked for the council in Queanbeyan, often labouring but also getting involved with the fire service. The wireless skills he learnt in the war were transferred to bushfires, including the big 2003 Canberra bushfires.
He wrote a manual for wireless operators which helped police, ambulance and fire services to communicate more easily.
And he has been involved in Legacy which was set up a hundred years ago to look after the families of veterans. It now looks after 43,000 veterans' families, including widows both young and old.
To celebrate that centenary, a torch has been carried in relays from Pozières in France where legend has it that a digger made a promise to another to "look after his missus and the kids".
The torch went from France to London and was then transported to Australia where it is now touring the country, with Queanbeyan as the latest destination.
The relay is to begin at Freebody Reserve at 10am on Wednesday, August 9. It will then go past schools in the town from Queanbeyan West Primary School to Queanbeyan East Primary School.
Jack Sealey will be there.
By the way, he has no secrets for longevity. He said he did smoke but gave it up. He is not a big drinker. His life has been active, though, and he retains his humour and belief in hard work for the community.
