Word: triquet
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Dates: during 1944-1944
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Under the Gothic pile of Parliament's World War I Victory Tower, two V.C.s met. Both were there to sell Victory Bonds for World War II. They shook hands, parted. One was trim, khakied Major Paul Triquet, who won the Victoria Cross early this year before Ortona (TIME, March 20). The other was little Philip Konowal, whose glory had been forgotten by almost everybody but himself...
Forthright General Pearkes promptly shouldered full responsibility. Said he: "I asked Triquet to come. ... I see nothing humiliating in trying to do my duty in encouraging others to do theirs. I did not win the Victoria Cross by keeping my boots clean at Passchendaele nor has any other officer won that decoration by leaving things to the sergeant major...
Major Paul Triquet, who won his decoration before Ortona (TIME, March 20), spoke to 15,000 fellow French Canadians in le régiment de Hull. They had participated in the bloodless occupation of Kiska with the U.S. forces. Now, he said, it was their duty to stand by fellow Canadians overseas. General Pearkes followed up: "The work you did at Kiska made your names honored. Your experience makes you invaluable as invasion forces. Play the man's part. . . . Volunteer now [for overseas service...
Only a few heeded the appeal. Unofficially it was said that no more than 500, or less than 3%, had volunteered this month. The incident irritated British Columbians, who are impatient with Ottawa's dilatory manpower policies. Mayor David Howrie of Vernon called Triquet's speech a "prostitution of the Victoria Cross"; Pearkes's plea a "humiliating duty imposed on an old soldier." Snorted Brigadier General Sutherland Brown, D.S.O. (retired) : "The Government hasn't guts enough to come out in the open...
Last week Paul André Triquet lay on a hospital bed in Italy. He had not been wounded in battle but while instructing at a battle school. He had also become a national hero. "For determined leadership and example," Major Triquet had been awarded the Victoria Cross. He was the fourth Canadian to be awarded the coveted ribbon in World War II, the first living French Canadian...