SHERBROOKE – James (Jim) Michaud has a rather modest explanation for the promotions he received during his 36 years with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
“They made a few mistakes,” the 88-year-old veteran said, chuckling. “They promoted me.”
Now living in Antigonish with his wife Carol, the Sherbrooke native belongs to a family whose military service spans four generations. He will be among those marking Remembrance Day on Nov. 11.
Michaud noted his father David and his son Jimmy also served, while his grandson, Nicholas Roussy, is currently in service and stationed in Ottawa.
Michaud said his career in the military started early. He was underage, so his father had to sign a consent form for him to enlist.
“I was 17 when I went in and I got out when I was 53,” Michaud told The Journal in a telephone interview.
Encouraged by the fact his father had served in the military, “I wanted to join too,” he said. “I wanted to serve. And my father was for it, so I joined.”
Michaud quickly found himself working in the finance department of the air force, where he looked after payroll and other accounts before becoming a supervisor there.
Michaud’s decades of service saw him stationed in a number of places, including Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., Penhold, Alta., Winnipeg, Man., Trenton, Ont., Esquimalt, B.C., and Washington, D.C.
He served twice in Ottawa, Ont., and Moncton, N.B., where he retired as a master warrant officer in 1991. He then spent five years as a Commissionaire before moving home for good.
Michaud noted that his father was in the military for approximately three years as a member of the Cape Breton Highlanders – an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army.
“He was sent overseas in action, down through Italy, and got out when the war ended,” said Michaud.
Pausing, he relayed a standing joke between the two.
“I always told him ‘you were in when they were loading magazines, and I was in when they were reading them,’” he said with another chuckle.
Passing away in 2002, Michaud’s father David rests in St. Paul’s Cemetery in Stillwater.
Serving in the military has become somewhat of a tradition, with the two youngest generations of the family also having served in the military.
His son, Jimmy, spent 18 years in the Army, completing his basic training in Cornwallis, N.S., and was stationed in Chilliwack, B.C., and Gagetown, N.B. He also served two peacekeeping tours, including in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he served as an engineer. Injured there, he was honourably discharged in 2000.
“And my grandson Nicholas is in the Army now, stationed in Ottawa,” said Michaud with pride.
As another Remembrance Day approaches, despite a serious medical setback at the first of the year, Michaud said he will once again be marking the day. He stressed that “I always attend.”
Although in the past it has been his annual tradition to place a wreath on his father’s grave, this year Michaud will be at the Remembrance Day service at The Maples Retirement Living, where he will read a poem.
For Michaud, the most important thing about Remembrance Day is simple: “remembering the people that served.”
“It goes back, right from the first World War and the second World War. There wouldn’t be a Remembrance Day if it wasn’t for the people in the Canadian military during war time,” he said.
“It’s about the people we remember.”
A number of Remembrance services were held prior to Remembrance Day, with more scheduled throughout the District of St. Mary’s.
A Remembrance Week ceremony was held at the Goshen Cenotaph on Nov. 8. A Remembrance ceremony was also held at St. Mary’s Education Centre/Academy on Nov. 10, during which visitors were invited to walk around the school, view the displays and speak with students. Following the ceremony, a luncheon was served for guests.
On Nov. 11, a Remembrance Day service will be held at the cenotaph located at 31 Mackinley Point Road, Spanish Ship Bay, at 11 a.m., with a light lunch and social to be held at the Legion hall following the service.
A Remembrance service will also be held on Nov. 11 at James Presbyterian Church in Sherbrooke, with the parade line-up at 10:30 a.m. Following the ceremony, tea, coffee and treats will be served upstairs at Temperance Hall.
Legion members will then visit Highcrest-Sherbrooke Nursing Home for a service there, followed by tea, coffee and “war cake” – a spice cake often baked during times of war.
