Reality of War!

When we first came under fire, we had gone up to the front lines, jumped off the trucks and we had to walk the last five miles to get up into the position. We were up on 186 I think it was called. These numbers refer to the topographical map of the area. So we were 168 metres or something like that above. And we were at the Samichon Valley and we looked across, it was a beautiful morning. And we looked across, the landscape was magnificent and there were the enemy hills. It was actually a valley between us. So we found a place to put our rucksack and whatnot. The trenches were already there and a few bunkers. And then in came a bloody enemy shell, a real one. It exploded, nobody was hurt by it. But it exploded about 150-200 yards from me. The blast it almost hurt your ears. You don’t see that in the movies, the concussion. You don’t see that in the movies. And I remember, we all hit the ground, of course, and we all looked at each other and if we didn’t say it I imagine we did but we felt this, the thoughts of the certain word was, “Oh my God. This is it!” Well, what the hell did we expect? We didn’t expect the reality of it. I will never forget that first shell that came in, scared the hell out of us. But we resolved ourselves to see it through of course, you know. And you learn within a matter of weeks to put emotion aside, you just put that aside.

Witnessing the sights and sounds of enemy fire, Mr. Zuber expresses fear and realization that this is real!

Edward "Ted" Zuber

Mr. Edward “Ted” Zuber was born October 16, 1932 in Montreal, Quebec. As a child, he was born with the gift of painting. Although not enthralled with school, Mr. Zuber did graduate and then went on to Queens University (Fine Arts). When the Korean War broke out in 1950, he was adamant to enlist and serve his country. He became a parachutist with the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment. Arriving in Korea in 1952, he took on the role of sniper spending much of his time on the front lines. During this time, Mr. Zuber produced many drawings and, upon returning to Canada, presented thirteen of his canvas collections to the Canadian War Museum. Presently known as the unofficial war artist for Korea, Mr. Zuber’s paintings have become very popular. His painting “Freeze” has been unveiled in honour of the 65th Anniversary of the Korean War. Mr. Zuber has great pride in his service during the Korean War and is honoured to have been recognized for his artwork. Present day, Mr. Zuber finds himself in his studio continuing to paint the images of his wartime experiences, images that never seem to go away. Mr. Zuber resides in Kingston, Ontario with his wife and family.