'I'm the only one left': 102-year-old veteran among those at Taber's VE-Day ceremony

The Homestretch9:08Victory in Europe Day

Eighty years ago, Germany formally surrendered to Allied Forces, bringing an end to the second world war in Europe. In Taber, the legion organized a march to mark the anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, and the community's last surviving veteran came out to participate. Burns Wood spoke with the CBC's Elise Stolte.

He's the only one left, but a southern Alberta community came together to show him love and respect.

Burns Wood, a veteran of the Second World War, was born more than a century ago in Taber, Alta., about 200 kilometres southeast of Calgary.

The community honoured Wood and others at a ceremony for the 80th anniversary of VE-Day (Victory in Europe) on Thursday in the town of about 9,000 residents.

"When I turned 21, you had to report to the army, if you weren't already in the service," Wood told CBC News.

"A group of us just out of high school, six or seven of us, all went to Calgary and joined the air force. When I graduated from Fort Macleod (pilot training), I was transferred to the RAF (Royal Air Force) transport command. It was our job to take planes from the factories to anywhere in the world they were needed."

10,000 planes delivered

He said his command delivered around 10,000 planes around the world, an accomplishment for a group of young men.

"Twenty-five years before, [Charles] Lindbergh flew the Atlantic, and here we, 21-year-old kids, were flying the Atlantic with just a radio beam to fly on," he explained.

"We actually lost one out of seven of our command, not from enemy action, but from new planes and the weather, especially weather in the North Atlantic winter. We weren't allowed to fly over 10,000 feet because we didn't have any oxygen, and all the weather is below 10,000 feet. So we lost a lot of planes. Each plane had three or four men on them."

Close to 500 veterans from the area

A Taber Police Service member said the community goes out of its way to pay respect.

"We have close to 500 veterans that served in World War II in Taber and the surrounding community," Regimental Sgt.-Maj. Christopher Nguyen said.

"They served and gave their lives for our freedom. We pride ourselves in being a strong community, with our values and beliefs and strong sense of family and friendship."

Nguyen said the ceremony is similar to a Remembrance Day event.

"We take it very seriously. It's another milestone we really wanted to make sure we acknowledged. We are really grateful for the freedoms we have, and it's something we make sure to support and celebrate."

'Only one left'

For veteran Wood, there were some unintended benefits that came from his service.

"In our group, we had fellows from Jamaica, Australia, New Zealand — all the Commonwealth countries. It was a wonderful group. For a young man, it was wonderful to see the world and to see other people outside my little town in Taber," he said.

"I'm the only one left."