A Moment of Honour

As a sniper I had an unbelievably beautiful experience. I guess that’s abstract. Of all the experiences I had in Korea some were really funny. The highlight emotionally I can tell you very quickly. It was on that same position on The Hook and that same hill or that same trench that came across the hill was badly built because for a moment when a man came through that trench his whole body was exposed because you looked down the trench and then, of course, when he came over the crest he immediately turned right and he disappeared in a trench that went about 150 feet into an observation bunker that the Chinese had. I shot two men as they came through within seconds of each other. Two men came through that trench, Bwam, bwam!! I got both of them. About five minutes later this was in the afternoon about two o’clock, I guess, it was bright sunlight, cold winter, where the trench went into that like a low feature, when it went into that hill, a man appeared. You could see him from the shoulders up, if they ducked at all they could run that whole distance and you wouldn’t see him until of course he went across that stupid bloody design. They should have had it at an angle but they had it direct opposite me. Anyway, this guy showed up. Jennifer, he was waving a white flag. And, of course, I knew he wasn’t surrendering. He was asking for time out. And I remember being, I felt so overwhelmed. I don’t know, I made a painting of this only about five years ago. It’s been with me, these things don’t leave you. He’s waving for time out. If the King of England had ordered me to shoot I would have refused. I had a moment of honour. I respected this international “give me a moment”. And two men appeared, they must have been scared skinny. These two guys appeared looking over his shoulder and they’re carrying a stretcher. And, of course, in my painting I depict them. This one guy is waving this white flag. I think it was on his rifle or something, anyway a white piece of cloth. These two guys ran like crazy down that trench only about 150, 200 feet to where that was with the two bodies in it and I’ll never know why but they only took one. Well, they can only do one at a time anyway. They took one of them, I guess he was still alive. And they put him on a stretcher and ran back. And then the fellow disappeared. This all took just a few minutes but I bet those boys spoke about the honour of the Canadian soldiers

Mr. Zuber recalls an emotional and gut wrenching experience where he provided the enemy with a moment of honour!

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.