Canada's last living Victoria Cross recipient has died, and the funeral is being covered nationwide, and globally, here today.

For the past week, the man who said 'I'm no hero, the real heroes never came home again' had been laying in state on Parliament Hill in the capital city of Ottawa.

And it was heart warming that Canadians of all ages, from all walks of life, are taking the time to remember our history, our glory, and our pride as a nation. And to remember a man who came to symbolize them for all of us.

As a former soldier, I salute the memory of a real Canadian character and the kind of soldier a man wishes he'd had the honour of serving with.

He was one of the best of us, the best we were and the best we can ever hope to be.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/08/13/smith-funeral050813.html

"At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them. Lest We Forget."

May that hero rest in peace

God Bless you Sgt. Ernest (Smokey) Smith.

It is a shame, but even the best of us die sometime. I just want you to know DarkAutumn, your neighbors down south are moved by this as well (though it may not be to the degree that you guys are).

God bless his soul, a greater man than anyone dared to be.

"At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we shall remember them.

This is what really kills me. The realization that were, slowly, losing an entire generation. Soon there will be nobody left who remembers the war. Really breaks my heart.

We actually are losing an entire generation of WWII veterans, like we already lost practically all WWI veterans, that's why books, movies and in these modern times even games play such an imporant role to keep the memory of the horror alive, 'cause in a few years barely any survivors will be there to tell us in person exactly how terrible it was, someone has to keep saying "never again" and in the (near) future it will be books movies and games thet tell us thet

There's too many places in the world today where the lessons those veteran's learned at such terrible cost are being forgotten, ignored, and worse: the mistakes repeated.

If the U.N. was what it ought to be, we would have a global program to educate youth and citizenry of every nation of this old Earth in what those veterans learned. In order that it never be repeated globally, regionally, or internally (ie: civil wars).

There was too much blood spilled back then.
And no excuse for all the bloodletting since.