CREDIT: Fred Chartrand, The Canadian Press War veteran Benjamin Regalbuto salutes as he pays his respects to Victoria Cross recipient Smokey Smith on Parliament Hill yesterday.
Posted on 08/10/2005 8:24:19 PM PDT by NorthOf45
Hero's farewell for 'Smokey'
Crowd braves heat to honour last surviving winner of Victoria Cross
Norma Greenaway, with files from Vito Pilieci
The Ottawa Citizen; with files from The Canadian Press
August 10, 2005
CREDIT: Fred Chartrand, The Canadian Press War veteran Benjamin Regalbuto salutes as he pays his respects to Victoria Cross recipient Smokey Smith on Parliament Hill yesterday.
Victoria Cross recipient Ernest (Smokey) Smith was honoured yesterday as no other veteran has been, getting a war hero's farewell on Parliament Hill that had scores of people lining up in blistering heat to pay their final respects.
Against the backdrop of tolling bells and wailing bagpipes, the day-long vigil began when pallbearers from the Seaforth Highlanders, Sgt. Smith's beloved regiment, carried the former soldier's remains in a flag-draped casket into the Centre Block.
Sgt. Smith's medals, among them the Order of Canada, and his tartan-trimmed Highlanders' hat sat atop the coffin.
Governor General Adrienne Clarkson and Prime Minister Paul Martin, their heads bowed in silent tribute, were the first of many dignitaries and veterans to pause at the casket before paying their respects to Sgt. Smith's son, daughter and grandchildren.
Though Sgt. Smith, the last surviving Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, shunned the label war hero in life, his death last week at the age of 91 unleashed a wave of affection for the man who had become Canada's most recognized war hero.
Capt. Deidra McLean, who has been in the military for seven years, was among the scores of mostly military men and women who waited patiently in a long line to salute Sgt. Smith's coffin.
Capt. McLean says her experiences in the military, including a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2002, spurred her to want to pay final respects to Sgt. Smith, who, she says, endured much more than most people face in the military. "He was a pretty special soldier," said Capt. McLean, 31.
With temperatures soaring past 33 degrees yesterday, thousands lined up on Parliament Hill to pay their last respects to Sgt. Smith. Most of those in line never knew the man.
At its peak, the lineup to see Sgt. Smith's casket stretched from the main entrance to the Centre Block all the way past the entrance to the East Block -- only metres away from Wellington Street.
Parliament Hill officials said some people waited more than three hours to pay their respects.
"I think it shows how Canadians care for their military and for those who have served their country," said Pierre Senecal, who was among those paying his respects yesterday.
"Mr. Smith was not always 91 years old. He was a soldier who found himself in the middle of a difficult situation where he proved he was worth his salt."
Sgt. Smith won the Victoria Cross, the highest award for valour that Canadian and British troops could earn in the Second World War, for his heroics on a rainy night in northern Italy in the fall of 1944.
The 30-year-old private -- who was promoted to sergeant after receiving the Victoria Cross -- single-handedly repelled a German counterattack on the Savio River that involved three Panzer tanks, two self-propelled guns and about 30 infantry.
Sgt. Smith had a reputation for being irreverent, funny and enjoying a drink and a cigar.
"He was a very colourful man, which is often the trait of people who are hard to stop," said Charles Belzile, honorary grand president of the Royal Canadian Legion. "And he was."
He also was known to bristle visibly when the term hero was applied to him.
"People that I consider heroes are all dead, got killed," Sgt. Smith told one TV interviewer a couple of years ago. "They're buried over there. So they're heroes, not me."
Mr. Belzile said he was pleased the country gave Sgt. Smith his due as a true hero.
"This is the year of the veteran," he said. "If you are going to do it, this is the right time to do it."
Others paying their last respects to Sgt. Smith yesterday said the country did exactly as it should to honour the war hero.
"It was totally deserved," said Tony Spruyt, a veteran. "We would have been remiss in our duty if this opportunity had been bypassed."
The casket was placed in the foyer of the House of Commons. Sgt. Smith's farewell marked the first time a non-commissioned officer was honoured with the ritual of lying in state on Parliament Hill.
The tradition is normally reserved for deceased prime ministers, whose caskets are placed in the Hall of Honour -- a stone's throw away from the foyer, where Sgt. Smith's casket stood.
The exception was the unknown soldier, whose remains were returned to Canada from Europe in 2000 and placed in the Hall of Honour.
Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of defence staff, hovered over the ceremony like a nervous parent.
He allowed that he loves the ritual and pageantry of the military, and said he was thrilled Sgt. Smith was getting the honour he deserved.
"It was the right thing to do," Gen. Hillier said.
Speaking later to reporters, he praised Sgt. Smith for showing valour and portrayed him as an inspiration to all men and women in uniform.
Defence Minister Bill Graham told reporters the ceremony was a way of paying respect to a whole generation of veterans who served in the Second World War.
A full military funeral will be held Saturday in Vancouver. His ashes will be buried at sea Sunday by HMCS Ottawa.
The Last of His Kind
Allied war vets ... never forget ... never forget.
Smoky Smith ping
The Canada that Smokey and Co fought under no longer exists. The new nation still calls itself Canada but is a different entity - remarkably New Zealand has gone through something very similar but not Australia.
Oh well, if the Western Standard poll is to be believed, I don't think this Canada will last for another decade.
bump to you for a later read, old FRiend.
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