Sapper talked of family in dying minutes

(AAP) - The funeral for an Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan has heard that as he lay dying, his sole concern was for his wife and young son.

Some 300 mourners gathered at Marist Brothers College at Ashgrove in Brisbane on
Saturday to farewell Sapper Darren Smith, a 26-year-old combat engineer who died in
a roadside bomb blast earlier this month.
The blast also killed Sapper Jacob Moerland, 21, and Sapper Smith's bomb detector
dog, Herbie.
Among the mourners at the military funeral were Prime Minister Kevin Rudd,
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and Lord Mayor Campbell
Newman.
Sapper Smith's favourite band, The Herd, flew up from Sydney at their own expense to
play a touching rendition of I was only 19 for the funeral.
Lieutenant Colonel John Carey, Commanding Officer 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment, told
the congregation that while being carried back to base by his fellow troops in the
20 minutes following the bomb blast, all Sapper Smith talked about were his concerns
for his wife Angela and their two-and-a-half-year-old son Mason.
Ms Smith, in her touching eulogy, read an extract from the last email she received
from her husband.
It described the agony they both faced in having to wait another four months until
they were reunited in Australia.
"What is time anyway? Maybe I'll find out when my head gets more twisted," the email
read.
She then read Wystan Hugh Auden's eerily fitting poem - Stop all the Clocks - to the
tear-filled mourners.
Sapper Smith's dad, Graeme Smith, said he'd not only lost his son, but also his
"best mate".
"Darren flew me to Darwin one night a few years back to tell me he had a surprise
for me," Mr Smith told the mourners.
"That surprise was Angela."
After Sapper Smith's future bride went to bed that night, Graeme told Saturday's
gathering, the two stayed up drinking beers to celebrate "finding the one".
"After spending a few more days there I knew he was right," Graeme said.
"Mate, I promise to do everything I can to look after her and young Mason for you."
A 21-gun salute was fired before Sapper Smith's grief-stricken wife was handed the
Australian flag that had been draped over his casket.
As the hearse slowly drove off, Mr Rudd got down on one knee to comfort and offer
his condolences to the distressed widow.