by Keith Mercer, Parks Canada

Family of Charles Doucette at a reception at the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site following the D-Day ceremony. Pictured with his Hometown Heroes panel. Photo by Parks Canada.

Marie Doucette never got to know her father. In 1941, she was only an infant when she met him for the first and only time.

Charles Doucette, from Membertou First Nation in Unama’ki (Cape Breton Island), was a private with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders during the Second World War. He was already receiving military training in Halifax when Marie was born. He came home for a short visit, perhaps only 90 minutes or so, before being called back to Halifax and eventually to the battlefields of Europe. Tragically, Doucette died in 1944, during the early stages of the D-Day campaign in Normandy, France. He was only 31.

Doucet ...

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