The man who will be leading this year's Anzac Day march in Bega has been looking forward to the occasion for a long, long time.
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"I never thought I'd reach it. But here I am," Tom Blake said.
"It was always on my mind; Anzac Day is coming up, Anzac Day is coming up."
He served in the Korean War as an able seaman first class in the British Royal Navy, on board the HMAS Jamaica.
On June 20, 1950, the Jamaica was sent to join the US Seventh Fleet in the Sea of Japan, where they had one mission - to seek and destroy anything of the enemy they saw.
The ship would bombard roads and bridges to stop the convoys of troops, tanks and supplies travelling south.
A connection to the armed forces also runs in Mr Blake's family, as his brother Tym served in a tank regiment in Egypt.
Mr Blake moved to Bega about 30 years ago and is now a resident of Hillgrove House, but since the 1980s he has been walking in Anzac Day marches.
READ MORE: 2019 Anzac Day services for Bega district
"There's men that can't walk today and you're walking in their memory," the 88-year-old said.
"You've got to remember the whole lot of them.
"They died for you; you can't forget them."
He has assisted organising Anzac Day marches in Bega with the town's RSL club since he arrived in the area, but said he was the only surviving veteran of the Korean War in the club.
The war was a "dirty, dirty war", he said.
"Sometimes you were that cold you needed heat, but the only heat you had was your body heat," he said.
While Mr Blake will be leading the march in Bega on Anzac Day, this year he will be driving.
On the day, one of the badges he will wear belonged to his brother.