Ted Williams was in the Air Force and always proud of that.

He enlisted during the Korean War, in 1951, and stayed until 1974. He was a man with a strong work ethic and a clear vision of what mattered in this world.

"For my dad it was always family, country, church and community," says his son, Shawn Williams.

"Dad was proud to have served. To have been a veteran."

And it is for this reason -- the pride he felt in being a veteran -- Ted Williams never quite understood why the country he had so proudly served would turn its back on him when he asked for help.

Forget for a moment the practical implications of that rebuke.

What bothered him most was being told he was not a veteran.

"You would have to know my dad, to understand why that hurt so much," says Williams.

"My dad played by the rules. He loved things being right and proper and that's why he loved the military. To have that taken away from him, it upset him more than the actual hospital bed."

Yes, the hospital bed.

What started the great debate between Ted Williams and the government of Canada on what it means to be a veteran. A bed at the Perley and Rideau Veterans Health Centre.

Two years ago Ted Williams -- 78 years of age, in declining health, on a dialysis machine three times a week and paying $5,000 a month at a seniors' home -- applied for a long-term-care bed at the Perley and Rideau.

It was then that Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) told Williams he was not really a veteran. Or at least not a veteran it was going to help.

Williams was told long-term-care beds at the Perley and Rideau are for people with war service; for people who have seen combat, or been deployed to a combat zone.

Despite 23 years in the Canadian Forces, Williams was told he did not qualify for a long-term bed.

If he wished, he could apply for a "community bed."

"My dad served during Korea, he just wasn't deployed into a combat zone," Williams says. Because he never got that order, that means he's not eligible?"

A spokesperson for Veterans Affairs Canada confirms long-term-care beds at veterans' hospitals are set-aside for people with combat service or injuries, although there are exceptions.

"Overseas service is not always required to be eligible for a bed in a facility such as the Perley and Rideau Veterans' Health Centre," says Janice Summerby.

"For example, Second World War Veterans who have a service-related disability from this service are eligible even if they did not serve overseas."

That is the sole exception. The Veterans Health Care Regulations list combat service, or injury, as a requirement in all other cases.

(To give you some idea of when the regulations were last updated, and to be completely accurate, there is one other exception. You qualify for a long-term bed if you served during World War One.)

Again, Ted Williams was a proud man and he appealed the decision, only to be denied one more time.

His local legion branch intervened on his behalf, and VAC turned him down again.

He went to the Veterans Ombudsman's office, and was turned down one last time.

The ombudsman's office -- in a letter that doesn't differ terribly much from the earlier VAC letters -- repeats the criteria, and tells Williams he does not qualify.

It closes by saying: "Please be assured of our commitment to, where possible, make a difference in the lives of current pensioned and retired members of the CF and the RCMP who have given much in the service of their country. If you have any further concerns, I urge you to contact this Office."

The letter was dated May 14.

Ted Williams had passed away 12 days earlier on May 2.

So what is a veteran? Someone who served in the Second World War but not in Korea?

"I wish my dad could have stayed at the Perley for his last years. It would have helped him," says Williams.

"I fundamentally disagree with how our government defines veteran. I think the beds at the Perley should be open to any man or woman who has served their country."

ron.corbett@sunmedia.ca