Last surviving Second World War veteran from Alderville First Nation turns 100
CBC
Community, family, traditional leaders and dignitaries were all in attendance Tuesday in Alderville First Nation to honour a Second World War veteran celebrating his 100th birthday.
The party for Don Smoke included a flyover by a Canadian Armed Forces Hercules aircraft.
"If I had to do over, I don't think I would really change it because I received so many blessings throughout my life. They're treasures to me, things that will last forever," said Smoke to his guests.
"If I could write a book and write a story, it would be the world's best seller."
Smoke was born in 1926 in Alderville First Nation, about 100 kilometres northeast of Toronto. He came from a large family, the third oldest of 11 siblings.
He attended several schools, including the Alderville Day School on the First Nation. His family moved to Brighton, Ont., in 1937, when he was 11 years old.
Marsha Smoke, Don’s eldest daughter, said her dad used to set traps in his traditional hunting territory from Brighton to Port Hope, Ont., along the railway tracks, travelling in the old slow-moving freight trains so he could check them all in one day.
During the Second World War, at age 17, he joined the Royal Canadian Army, 15th Regiment and trained in Petawawa. He trained as a gunner, known for his accuracy as a nine-mile sniper.
He served in Belgium and the Netherlands and said it was an honour to serve in the liberation of Europe, Marsha said. After the war ended in Europe, Don signed up for active duty in the Pacific but Japan surrendered before he set sail.
Like other Indigenous veterans returning from fighting overseas, he faced discrimination. They could not access the same benefits granted to non-Indigenous veterans. Don learned his benefits went to Indian Affairs where they were never disbursed to him.
He and family members who served in the war were not permitted to enter Royal Canadian Legions, including their local Branch 133 in Cobourg, Ont.
He was able to get a loan from Veterans Affairs in 1965 to purchase his first house on a small farm in Baltimore, Ont., where Marsha said her parents taught them to live off the land.
In 2002, Don received $20,000 from the Government of Canada in compensation for the veterans' benefits that were denied to him.
Don taught his five boys how to hunt, fish, trap and gather wild rice while their mother taught Marsha and her two sisters traditional crafts and sewing.
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