Almost 50 years of pinning poppies for WW II vet Rod Deon

At 95, Second World War veteran Rod Deon is a man of many talents, many medals, and many stories who has spent almost half a century working with the Royal Canadian Legion poppy campaign.

"I'm lucky to be able to do this at my age. And I don't feel too bad for my age," said Deon.

• 'I've never missed a poppy campaign,' says 94-year-old veteran

These days,you can find him pinning poppies on lapels in St. John's.

He said there is one very clear reason everyone should wear a poppy.

"To respect those that saved this country from the Germans and from Hitler."

For Deon, the poppy campaign alsoraises much-needed money for veterans who can't help themselves in every way.

"They were wounded, they lost their eyesight, they lost their hearing, I lost my hearing quite a bit," he said Tuesday.

"For anything that they need, like wheelchairs, you name it. That's what this poppy campaign is all about. We don't sell poppies, it's a donation. You're not supposed to call it selling, because there's no price."

He may be 95, but Deon remembers almost every detail of his time with the Royal Canadian Navy during WWII, recalling the Invasion of Normandylike it was yesterday.

"[We] took off from Plymouth, England at four o'clock in the morning on D-Day and we cleared the English Channel for the soldiers to go across. We were hit by a floating mine. And we picked up dead bodies."

"We didn't pick up any live ones, they were dead and we were too busy to do that, we had to look after ourselves," said Deon, who can tell you about all three German U-boats they sank that day as well.

A man with 'good luck'

Born in Nova Scotia, Deon grew up in Boston, then went back to Canada during the Depression because "there was no work"in the U.S.

He later joined the navy in Halifax, and settled in Toronto after the war.

With his wife facing cancer two years ago,the couple moved to St. John's to be closer to their daughter and her husband.

It didn't take Deon long to sign up with the local legion, Branch 56, and continue his dedication to the poppy campaign something he plans to do as long as he can.

'I don't drink, I don't smoke, and I look after my food."- Rod Deon, 95

So what's the secret to his longevity?

"Good luck."

"I don't drink, I don't smoke, and I look after my food. My hobby now is I'm an artist, a designer, and a wood carver."

In 2012, he even added a Diamond Jubilee Medalto his collection of military honoursfor a wood carving he did of the Queen.