World War II veteran Jack Sealy is honoured for his more than 20 years of service to Legacy by cutting the ribbon on the latest leg of a global torch relay celebrating the veterans' charity's 100th anniversary.
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00:00 (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
00:02 98-year-old World War II veteran Jack Seeley
00:07 is one of the last of his kind.
00:09 I am, we are pretty sure,
00:13 the last man standing from...
00:17 ..in the district from World War II.
00:20 And now he's being honoured not just for his service
00:23 but the contribution to his community.
00:25 For over two decades, Jack was a local leader for Legacy,
00:28 a charity that supports veterans' families.
00:31 To mark 100 years of operations,
00:33 a torch relay has travelled the globe,
00:35 starting at the Posiers Memorial in France to London
00:38 and now nearing the end of an Australia-wide tour
00:41 of all 44 Legacy clubs.
00:43 For Jack's family in the New South Wales town of Queenbeyan,
00:47 seeing him receive top honours is a dream come true.
00:50 (APPLAUSE)
00:51 Oh, incredible.
00:53 We're just so proud of him
00:55 because he's just such an amazing man.
00:57 Up until three years ago,
00:59 he was still going over to fire control, working there.
01:02 He was still working for Legacy.
01:05 Kayleen Connell's husband, Adam, served 23 years in the Army
01:10 but died of pancreatic cancer five years ago.
01:13 She says Legacy's support kept her family afloat.
01:16 They do, like, help you with your bills if you need.
01:20 So, because, you know, we're only on one income,
01:23 like a lot of people are anyway,
01:25 but he was...my husband was the breadwinner,
01:29 and so then not to have that is a massive impact on our life.
01:34 Sometimes it feels that you're not...
01:37 Like, you've been forgotten once it's all over,
01:41 like, months down the track.
01:43 So at least you've got them to support you because, yeah,
01:46 you just... 'cause otherwise you'd be just lost without them.
01:49 Kayleen's daughter, Emily,
01:51 was only months away from finishing university when her father died.
01:55 Legacy stepped in to help pay for her petrol
01:57 so she could travel to uni and also bought her textbooks.
02:00 They also helped me obtain a Westpac loan
02:05 through...that's for Legacy beneficiaries in particular,
02:09 obtain that loan so that I could put some money towards my HECS debt
02:13 and pay off some of my units, which was great.
02:15 Really appreciated it.
02:17 The relay will reach its final destination in Melbourne on 13 October.
02:21 .