John Pile has no hesitation in saying he'd do it all again.
He signed up to serve in World War II when he was just 20 and saw action in the Middle East and Borneo with the Ninth Division Cavalry.
When he went to enlist he was actually too young to join without his parents' permission, which was needed until the age of 21.
"I rolled up and put my age down as 20," he told AAP ahead of the Anzac Day march in Adelaide.
"I was told the best thing I could do was go away and have a birthday and come back in the afternoon."
At the time France had just fallen and the allies were in desperate need of new recruits.
Now 95, Mr Pile was among a diminishing number of World War II veterans who took part in the Adelaide march on Saturday.
Of the estimated 6000 former and current servicemen and woman who made the journey from the war memorial to the cross of sacrifice, only a few hundred were thought to have fought in WWII.
Mr Pile believed he was the last surviving member of his unit but has no regrets fibbing about his age.
"I thought what we had to do at that period of time was very necessary," he said.
He's not so taken with Australia's current participation in military action in the Middle East, describing that as a "different kettle of fish".
Another WWII veteran John Spriggs, who served on a supply ship in the Pacific, said he was determined to take part despite suffering from cancer and needing a wheelchair.
"It's a chance to just be with the boys," he said.
"I think there's only about seven of us left now."
Mr Spriggs said despite the passage of time the whole day, from the dawn service to the march, remained a wonderful celebration.
"The young people are getting more out of it now than the oldies," he said.
Such is the respect for the remaining WWII veterans marching, their groups were met with constant applause along the whole route on Saturday.
Earlier an estimated 10,000 people attended the dawn service in Adelaide.
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