Lucien Lou Menard

My name is Lucien Ménard; my army service number was D146003, I enlisted on July, 15, 1944 for a chance to travel. When you’re 16, the future is bright. I enlisted in Longueuil and then I was sent to St-Jérôme for basic training and then on to Farnham for advanced training. Then we graduated. I was a paratrooper. We did basic training in St-Jérôme. They showed us how to march in columns, we learned about discipline and everything like that. Advanced training was the same thing, but with more emphasis on different weapons. I liked it. There was a variety of activities at each place. I made a lot of friends. I liked each day. On April 8, I arrived in Halifax, on Victory Day [May 8, 1945]. That was the end of my travels. I was too young to go to Europe. I was only 17. Today, I am 84. When the war ended in Europe, we signed up again voluntarily to go to Japan. After returning to Quebec, the war was over. They sent us home. Everyone was celebrating. We were guardsmen in Halifax, we guarded the city. Everyone was celebrating.