Let's drink to a generation that doesn't have to feel guilty for not having fought in a war

Tomorrow – June 6 – will be the 75th anniversary of the D-Day Landings, the operation that saw Allied troops begin the fightback in Europe against Hitler's troops and Nazism, which ultimately led to the end of the Second World War.

It's being marked today, June 5, to fit in with Donald Trump's schedule during his State visit to Britain (probably) and will see lots of pomp and circumstance and interviews with the, mostly lucky, veterans who lived to tell the tale.

“For my generation, the alleged heroics of our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers have been a difficult cross to bear. We grew up in the shadow of these men (and women) who each single-handedly fought off Hitler and the menace of the Third Reich.”

I've already heard one politician on TV saying that this "could be the last time" we will see a gathering like this to honour the military men and women who played a role in that action.

We've been here before, of course, in the not so distant past when we observed the anniversaries of the major battles/offensives of the First World War, such as the Somme, Passchendaele etc.

The generation of veterans who served during the First World War have all perished now and, of course, the same fate now looms for the veterans who fought in the Second World War. That won't stop the anniversaries coming – the military love an anniversary.

They'll come for The Falklands, the two Gulf Wars, those who saw action in the Balkans, Afghanistan, Northern Ireland etc. It won't stop them continuing to observe the anniversaries of the wars whose combatants are no longer alive either – just think back to last year's 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, which coincided with the country going poppy mad yet again on Remembrance Day.

For my generation, the alleged heroics of our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers have been a difficult cross to bear. We grew up in the shadow of these men (and women) who each, single-handedly fought off Hitler and the menace of the Third Reich.

Sure, we could have signed up and fought in some of the more recent conflicts I've mentioned, but without conscription the motivation really wasn't there. So how did we mere journalists, accountants, car mechanics, insurance underwriters and computer salesmen compete with the achievements of ex-soldiers, sailors and airmen who actually fought in wars? Well we couldn't.

Perhaps that's the reason that my generation resorted to drugs, rock n roll and the sexual freedoms bestowed upon us by the Pill. The most noble thing any of us did was to go along to Live Aid - or at least donate some money when Bob Geldof told us to - in the 1980s to help save the lives of a few starving Africans.

But the problem with the men (and women) who have fought in wars and served in the Armed Forces is that the military mindset is accompanied by a lack of imagination and a lack of an ability to empathise.

Most of my generation and the current 'snow flake' millennials would not be capable of fighting in a war, certainly not one using conventional weapons and requiring a certain amount of bravery not just to cower in the background or run away. Decades of violent and morally deteriorating Hollywood movies has given us a vivid picture of what guns, knives and rockets can do.

And although we may gain a certain adrenalin-fuelled schadenfreude from watching them, we know in our hearts we would never want to find ourselves in the situations where we would use them. In many ways the disappearance of the Second World War generation may be a good thing. The current generation will no longer have the exploits of their older relatives to live up to.

I grew up feeling a failure because I didn't serve on the ships being bombed on the North Atlantic convoys or try to dodge bullets on the beaches of northern France. My children will hardly feel failures because they didn't work in an office for 30 years or sit at a typewriter like their father did.

This generation is lucky because they will not carry the heavy burden of expectation that we did that somehow we should have made some valiant sacrifice for the freedoms that our politicians pay lip service to cherishing, such as 'democracy' and 'freedom'. They are free to find out what it is they want out of life – to be web editors, graphic artists, reality TV stars...without having to feel the guilt of my generation. And let's all drink to that!