Sorry..when I posted the link it was current and you did not need to sign in...this is from todays paper..
War hero Smokey Smith remembered as icon at historic military funeral
Kevin Ward And Elianna Lev
Canadian Press
Sunday, August 14, 2005
VANCOUVER (CP) - The colourful life and battlefield bravery of Sgt. Ernest (Smokey) Smith - Canada's last Victoria Cross winner - was commemorated Saturday with a funeral for a man who will be remembered as a military icon.
The service to mark Smith's life began with a two-kilometre procession through the city's downtown along the same route that members of his regiment, the Seaforth Highlanders, followed when they returned from the Second World War in October 1945.
Like that day, thousands lined the streets, but this time they stood in bright sunshine to bid farewell as Smith's flag-draped coffin was carried on a vintage gun carriage to St. Andrew's Wesley United Church, accompanied by hundreds of military personnel from across the country.
Smith died 10 days ago. He was 91.
Like many who spoke at the 90-minute funeral, Defence Minister Bill Graham paid tribute to Smith not just as a soldier, but as a character known for his love of life.
"His passing marks a milestone in Canadian history and we will forever be indebted and grateful as a nation for his conspicuous bravery," he said. "He was and always will be a much respected and remarkable national hero."
Smith won the Victoria Cross for single-handedly holding off German tanks and troops in a battle in Italy in October 1944. The medal is the Commonwealth's highest award for bravery.
But his friends said Smith never thought of himself as a hero.
"Smokey would be the first to tell you . . . the real heroes, the real brave ones, are those he buried in Italy, and he meant it," said Mary Ann Burdett, Dominion President of the Royal Canadian Legion.
"At first meeting you could tell he didn't mince words and he never took himself very seriously. He was just Smokey as far as he was concerned."
The commanding officer of the Seaforth Highlanders asked mourners to remember Smith for his bravery in battle and the life he led after the war.
"All Canadians have lost a great Canadian hero," said Lt.-Col. Rob Roy MacKenzie.
A military chaplain said the week of ceremonies to commemorate Smith's life was overwhelming.
"This has been an incredible week," said Rev. Jim Short, senior chaplain to 39 Brigade Group based in British Columbia.
"This has been a time of tears and a time of laughter, a time of celebration and a time of mourning, a time of story-telling and a time of lament," he eulogized.
The military funeral for Smith was the largest Canada has seen in decades, similar to the one for First World War flying ace Billy Bishop in 1956.
As Smith's coffin crossed the Burrard Street Bridge, a group of CF-18 jets roared overhead in the Missing Man formation, traditionally used to mark the loss of a comrade.
As the procession neared the church it was joined by veterans of the Second World War.
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Eight pallbearers dressed in the tartan kilts of the Seaforth Highlanders carried Smith's coffin into the church as those standing shoulder to shoulder outside broke into applause.
While the funeral was largely solemn, it also touched on Smith's famed irreverent side and included a number by a jazz band.
Lt.-Gov. Iona Campagnolo told how Smith was placed in a jail cell in newly liberated Rome the night before he was to receive the VC from King George VI at Buckingham Palace, "lest he slip away for his own private celebration."
His friend, Bill Worton, recalled Smith's "wicked sense of humour," which he said helped him deal with his fame.
"I never heard him tell anyone that he had won the Victoria Cross," said Worton, who served with Smith and remembered how his buddy liked to savour a good cigar and a glass of scotch.
"To him, people were people. Whether it was the Queen Mother or an ordinary person, he spoke to them all same way. . . . What you saw is what you got."
Smith's last request was to be buried at sea and on Sunday his ashes were to be scattered on the Pacific Ocean during a private service aboard HMCS Ottawa.
The VC was awarded to Smith for acts of bravery after the Seaforth Highlanders were selected to establish a bridgehead across the Savio River in the push to liberate Cesena.
Torrential rain had caused the river to rise, making it impossible to get tanks across the muddy banks. Smith valiantly fought German tanks and troops to secure the Canadian position.
Last fall, Italians and Canadians gathered beneath the walls of an 800-year-old castle in Cesena to honour Smith, whose nickname came from his running ability in school.
For Smith, that night in 1944 when he saved untold lives and changed his own forever was about survival.
"If you're not afraid, there's something wrong with you," he said. "You've got to do it. Don't worry about it. Do it."
Earlier in the week, Smith's coffin lay in state on Parliament Hill, where Prime Minister Paul Martin and Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson were among the thousands who paid their respects.
The prime minister thanked Smith's family on behalf of "a grateful and indebted nation."
Smith's "conspicuous bravery, initiative and leadership in the face of enemy fire during World War II inspired fellow Canadians everywhere - in action and on the home front," Martin said.
Comrades knew him as "a soldier's soldier," an independent-minded man whose relationship with the army was stormy. The army made him a corporal nine times and busted him to private nine times.
Smith held the rank of private when he was awarded the VC, making him the only Canadian private to win the medal in the Second World War.
Smith was promoted to sergeant before he retired from the military. He became a newspaper photographer before starting his own travel business with wife Esther and worked until he was 82.
Late in life he was largely confined to a wheelchair, but he said last year he didn't dwell on what happened during the war.
"Once it's over, it's over," he said. "It was a good life."
