My very dear father in law, a Marine, served in the Pacific in WWII and was one who stormed beaches. He never spoke of the war. When asked about it he would always just look down and say these same words (I heard them many times) "War is a terrible thing." That's it. That's all he ever said. He would then either change the subject or leave the room.
I once asked my very dear mother in law if he ever spoke about the war to her and she said, "No. All he ever says is that war is a terrible thing."