Sawatsky Sign-Off: Veteran surprised by thank-you letters from around the world [Video]

LANGFORD, B.C. –

As Don Dixon flips through his photo album filled with all sorts of serious things, the 102-year-old is proving to be quite silly.

“I’ve always had that,” Don laughs after staring in the TV camera lens, lifting his glasses up, and sticking his tongue out.

For as long as Don can recall, he’s strived to inspire smiles. Except during the Second World War, when his focus was service.

“I did what I was asked to do,” Don smiles. “So that was it.”

But if you look through Don’s photo album from his time as a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot flying both fighter planes and big bombers in Europe, you’ll see it’s much more that that.

“It was very exciting in one way,” Don says. “But don’t say I wasn’t scared at times.”

While it’s normal to feel fear when your plane’s tail is shot off, or two of its …