THE parents of a soldier killed by a roadside bomb while driving an armoured vehicle in Iraq, paid their respects at Waltham Cenotaph.
As reported, Trooper Kristen Turton was killed by a bomb blast in Iraq in April 2007, aged 27, just weeks before he was due to return home.
His parents, Alan and Jenny Turton of Holton-le-Clay, honoured him and others who have given their lives at Waltham Cenotaph yesterday, as they do every year.
Jenny, 65 said: "Today is about remembering all of those men who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country in this wicked world.
"I'm glad that others remember on this day, although he's in our thoughts every second of every day and that will never change.
"Even though the memories are very painful, I don't want them to go away. I want to keep him in my mind all the time.
"I still get upset when I see a young man around Kristen's age who is getting on with his life, setting up a family, working hard, because it is something that he never got to do – the life that he didn't have.
"However, I'm very proud that he was a soldier and glad that he joined the Army, because it is what he wanted to do.
"He loved his job, had great friends and achieved so much. I can't say that I wish he never went, because you never know what might have happened if he hadn't joined – people die in car accidents every day."
Father Alan Turton, 71, said: "What he achieved in his three years in the Army was more than some people do in their whole lives. He wanted to drive a Challenger II tank and he did it. He wanted to drive the armoured vehicles and he did and he was even picked for specialist sniper training because he was such a good shot.
"Kristen's grandfather fought all the way through the Second World War and would have been very proud of him, just as we are as parents.
"Today is about remembering what these people have done for their country – and they are still doing it now. Sadly, I can't see us winning the war in Afghanistan anytime soon and we still hear about young soldiers dying from roadside bombs now."
