The three were arriving in Halifax after serving with the Canadian military in post-war Germany.

"We were inseparable over there, really," said Blue.

So inseparable, in fact, that others in the 79 field regiment dubbed the comrades "The Three Musketeers."

The three men, who are now in their 70s, were reunited early last month for the first time in over 50 years.

It all started after Blue and his wife Margaret visited friends in Nova Scotia back in 2001.

Blue knew that Borden grew up in New Glasglow and began looking for his number in the phone book.

"I wrote his number down on the palm of my hand because I didn't have a piece of paper," said Blue of fellow war vet Charles Borden.

When the call was made, Blue asked the man on the other end if he had served in the 209 Battery 79 Field Regiment going to Germany in 1951-1953.

"I told him 'We used to be known as the three musketeers. Then he said, Blue is that really you?'" recalled Blue.

"He told me 'I thought of you all these years, I never forgot you.'

"I asked him what he did when he came home and he said 'I came home, got married and had 9 kids.' Then I said, 'I came home, got married and had 6 kids,' " recalled Blue, who worked at a paper mill in Thorold and lived in Port Robinson almost all of his life.

Blue made the drive from where he was staying in Thorburn to Truro, so he could meet up with Borden.

What he discovered when they re-united was that neither man had changed.

The two even had the same taste.

"Although we had not seen each other in 50 years, we both had on identical white caps and that just floored me," remembered Blue.

The remarkable reunion made headlines in a local Truro newspaper and Blue said because of that, the two were able to locate Irving, who lives in Montreal.

Phone calls were made and Irving's daughter tracked down Borden's daughter on the Internet, sparking another reunion for the Three Musketeers.

Blue's wife Margaret explained all of The Musketeers' children had grown up hearing stories of their friends and felt like they had known the men all their lives.

"On the 10th was the first time we were all together since we got off that boat in Halifax in 1953," said Blue, who has just returned to Thorold from a trip to Nova Scotia.

"I had my photo album with all of our pictures from the war and the three of us just reminisced at Charlie's dining room table for two hours."

Blue said it was an emotional experience and that they would have recognized each other, adding that their voices still sound the same despite all the time that had passed.

"We hadn't changed," said Blue, pointing to a photo from when the three were overseas.

"Chris was 15, Charlie was 21 and I was 19," he said. "We were just the best of friends."