'It looked like he wiped a tear away': Edmonton veteran celebrates 100 years

One of the original members of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 435 Squadron recently celebrated his 100th birthday.

Warren Smith was a Radio Technician, fixing radios in the Hercules while based primarily in Burma during the war. A war his daughter said he shouldn’t have been fighting in.

“His eyesight was bad, and he couldn’t pass the eye test, so he memorized the eye chart,” said Debbie Smith, Warren’s daughter.

“He just desperately wanted to be a part of the Canadian contingent during the war.”

She had to learn about her dad’s time in the conflict through a book he ghost-wrote titled “The Inventive Life of Warren Smith.”

“He has a ton of war stories,” said Debbie. “But he didn’t tell his daughters because my mom didn’t want to know what went on during the war, because he did some risky things she didn’t want to hear about.”

However, he did share his stories with his grandchildren.

“It’s a gift,” said grandson Scott Moore. “He’s one of the most special men in my life and in a lot of people in my family’s lives.”

So when it came time for Warren’s 100th birthday on Sept. 27, there were two parties and several cakes to mark the special occasion.

“Every year, we celebrated another milestone, and we made a big deal of it because we honestly didn’t think he would make the next one,” Debbie said.

“Now I think he will outlive me,” she added with a laugh.

To make this birthday even more special, the family invited the current 435 Squadron, which is now based in Winnipeg, MB, to one of his parties.

“100 years is a milestone for anyone,” said Curtis Cusack, RCAF Squadron 435 Pilot Leader.

Cusack was one of three squadron members who made the trip to Edmonton.

“I made a joke that this is more of an honour for myself because I’m one of the newest members of the Squadron,” Cusack said.

“It’s nice to be able to look back at our heritage and be there with our members that were a part of it,” he added.

Warren has had a series of small strokes and doesn’t speak very well. Debbie said people typically don’t get much of a reaction from him anymore, but the day of the party was different.

“That day he was reacting to everybody. You can tell by the look on his face and in his eyes that he knew who everybody was, holding their hand and visiting,” she said.

The 435 also gave him a framed picture of a Hercules signed by the entire current Squadron.

“It looked like he wiped a tear away from his eye when we presented it to him,” said Cusack. “Even though he’s non-verbal, I think he definitely understood what was going on.”

Moore said his grandfather is an inspiration.

“Someone that I look up to. Someone I try to model my life, my being a husband, father, all of that, after him.”

With files from CTV Edmonton’s Nahreman Issa