VALLEY - In his own mind, at least for a time following his "distinguished" service in the Second World War, Clarence Bentley Sutherland thought of himself as a coward.
As history and those who knew him would tell it, however, 'Larry' was a giant among men who actually became known as Canada's top heavy-bomber Air Gunner Ace, and who received two Distinguished Flying Medals for service to his country.
On Monday, as a slight breeze blew across the Crossroads Cemetery in Valley, under a blue sky and sun-filled day, Sutherland's cremated remains were laid to rest, just a short distance from where he grew up as a farm boy on East Mountain.
"We have lost yet another great giant," Royal Canadian Air Force Lt. Col. Tim Garriock said, during a preceding service inside the Valley United Church. "Rest in peace."
Sutherland died May 23 at age 89 at his adopted home in Sebastian, Fla.
"Our heroes from the two great wars are passing quickly," Garriock said to an audience of nearly 30 individuals, including both active and retired air force members and several air cadets from the No. 77 Arrowhead Squadron in Truro.
"I think it's important to come out and recognize them whenever possible."
Sutherland flew 35 missions during the Second World War as a rear gunner in a Lancaster heavy bomber.
All of his missions but one were flown at night and he also participated in nine of the 19 infamous Berlin raids.
"During the course of these missions he assisted in shooting down seven German night fighters and damaging one," Sutherland's nephew, Gary Chisholm, said during the service. "On one mission alone he and his tail gunner shot down three attacking German fighters over the course of nine attacks on their aircraft, a feat that was never duplicated in the history of Bomber Command."
One of the more astounding facts about Sutherland is that he applied to the RAF seven times before being accepted because of an eye defect that prevented him from moving his left eye up down or sideways. But, on the upside, it left him with "phenomenal" night vision, which he put to good use on his flying missions, Chisholm said.
Sutherland left the war under "battle fatigue" (post traumatic stress) conditions following a final mission over Paris and was sent home on medical leave.
Despite his heroic feats, however, Sutherland was left feeling like a coward because others were still fighting and dying while he could not.
"For the next 40 years he would fight his demons without telling anyone and just tried to get on with his life," Chisholm said.
Ultimately, however, Sutherland did not let himself be dragged down and spent his post-war years working as a stone mason in Canada and the United States. He married, raised a family and eventually spent a number of retirement years running the roads of both countries in a motor home as "travelling gypsies, alongside his beloved wife Marge.
Last December, after five years of working alongside his uncle, Chisholm published a book on Sutherland's feats called The One Eyed Gunner.
