Veteran remembers fellow soldiers in near-daily flag salute

Five days a week, Ed Matheson starts his day with a salute to the Canadian flag.

The 88-year-old veteran puts on his military uniformand marches through the hallways of the Touchmark retirement apartment building. He maintains a regularstridelike a one-man militarydrill.

Outside, the sun reflects off his thick glasses. And with his hearing aid fittingjust under his uniformhat,he continuesthe march.

He halts at the base of three flags outside the retirement complex and salutes the Canadian flag in the middle. He stares for a few seconds before he turns and marches away.

"We fought for that flag,for our country," said Matheson. "The flag represents our country.

"We signed up to protect the country,to save the country. When I say country, that's people."

He didn't fight in the Second World War. He wasn't old enough at the time, but he enlisted when he turned 18.

In 1951, Matheson was sent to Zweibrcken, Germany, wherehis mission was to befriend civilians and acquire information.

"The men had me into their homes for mealsI don't know how many times," he said.

He said the civilians' genuine curiosity and generosity putthemin a more human light than howtheywere depicted in Canada during the war.

"We're all people. They have hearts and a way of loving their own families," he said. "The war didn't help that situation."

The information acquired was added to the Canadian military's computer databases, which were Matheson's specialty.

In 1960, hetransferred to Ottawa to work in computer programming.

At the time, the Royal Canadian Armed Forces, army and navy had independent computer systems.

Matheson and another man developed a computer program that organized all theinformation of all units for the Department of National Defence. Mathesonremembers his contribution to the Armed Forces fondly.

Proud of his work

His daughter, Brenda Weidman, said her father has always been proud to put on his uniform, even athis retirement complex.

"My dad is very patriotic. I'm not surprised by thatand I'm very proud of him," Weidman said. "He represents freedom and he represents peace."

Matheson said on Remembrance Dayhe'll think of his friends, Joe and Frances, both of whom died in battle. His memory isn't as good as it once was, so their last names escape him, but he remembers their faces clearly.

"You can't bring anybody back," he said. "Just remember and hope to heck it doesn't happen again."

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