Happy National Acadian Day!
14 Wing Greenwood Colonel Jeff Davis, right, with Wing Chief Warrant Officer Jonathan Proulx, back left; oversaw the raising of the Acadian flag at the base’s main gate August 15 by several representatives of the Acadian community, including, from left, 415 (Long Range Patrol Force Development) Squadron Sergeant Serge Duguay, front right; 404 (Long Range Patrol and Training) Squadron Captain Rob Albert, front centre; and Sergeant (retired) Bruce Deveau.
Davis, a day back from representing the Royal Canadian Air Force at the Congrès mondial acadien 2024 in Southwestern Nova Scotia, encouraged 14 Wing members and community friends gathered for the Acadian flag-raising to ask people about their past.
“We had the opportunity to go to the Congrès yesterday, and it was amazing – the interactions we had with the people who were there,” Davis said. “The history, the stories, the culture. I ran into people I knew I didn’t know would be there – it was great.
“I learned a couple years ago from the lieutenant-governor’s wife, when they were here presenting the Queen’s Jubilee Medals: watching her greet people the first thing she did was look at their name, and then she’d ask them about who they were, where they were from, do you know this person…. she’d ask about their story.”
The Acadians, Davis said, have their story, and it was being shared at the Congrès.
“It’s a big world, but it’s a tight-knit community. And, it’s a small community we’re part of in the RCAF – like the Acadian community. It’s so nice to be a part of it.”
Duguay provided some background on the arrival of Acadians to Nova Scotia from France in 1605, as pioneers and among the first builders of Canada; and that August 15 was chosen in 1881 at the first national convention of Acadians as a day to celebrate.
“The Acadian tri-colour flag was adapted from the French flag, but the yellow star, the Stella Maris – Our Lady Mary’s star: that makes it unique,” Duguay said. “The flag represents a people – not a political group or a country. It reminds Acadians France is the motherland, they are descended from France, they have Acadian culture and they are now Canadian.”
