He flew bombers during the Second World War over Europe, survived four crashes that earned the nickname "Crash," and lived to 103 -- yet Reginald Harrison never called himself a hero.
Harrison, who died Nov. 20 with his family by his side, said in an interview two years ago that he has "never looked on myself as a hero.
"I look on myself as being lucky to come back, because bomber command losses were almost 50 per cent."'
Brian Swidrovich, who worked with Harrison for decades through community air events, said he was "one of the heroic men and women who lived in the Saskatoon community.
"He exemplified humility, respect for others, character, integrity and all the qualities that you would like to see in anyone. There's so many World War 2 veterans who resided in our community and fortunately came back and helped build our town and our province and our country, per se."
Harrison was born in 1922 in Pheasant Forks, Sask. He decided he wanted to be a pilot at 17 years old and enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).
He earned his pilot's wings in 1943 and arrived July 1 in Liverpool, where he flew 19 missions over occupied Europe. Harrison was also part of D-Day operations.
One of Swidrovich's most cherished memories of Harrison dates back to 1994, when over 60 veterans met at the Wing (Lynx) Building, built in 1941 for RCAF training in Saskatoon. They were there to discuss future air shows.
"It was kind of a community event to help recognize the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War," Swidrovich says. "That's really where the air show was born. We created the air show at Saskatchewan Place. It was the first arena in the world to even tackle something like that.
"There was a lot of pride in the faces of those men and women coming to the event and meeting each other, sometimes for the first time. There's a lot of veterans that lived in our community and around the province that have never met each other, but served in the war together," Swidrovich added.
Hearing the stories and watching the aircraft perform made Swidrovich realize the event should happen more than just once -- the Canadian International Air Show had been running for over 25 years.
"It was a blessing for him to come home. He always said the real heroes are the ones that never made it back. He never, ever looked upon himself as a hero," Swidrovich said.
He said Harrison told him a story of plowing the field with a horse in Virden, Man. and looking up and hearing the planes fly around during training for the Second World War.
"He said that pretty soon the horses learned to stop when they heard an aircraft engine, because they knew that Reg was going to stop them anyway. He would sit there and stare at the sky and look at the guys flying around.
"He knew that he didn't want to be in the infantry, in the army, because that's what his dad and grandpa had come from and he knew he couldn't swim very well. He didn't want to go with the navy, but aviation sparked his interest."
Harrison was the last known RCAF member of 431(B) Squadron from the Second World War, and the oldest member of the Snowbirds Alumni Association.