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| Pvt. Camille Pelletier |
By Barbara Scott
Staff Writer
“When we were just young,” said Nancy Michaud, “ everything was ‘hush-hush,’ Uncle Camille, my father’s brother lived with us and we knew he was a little different — very quiet, but we were just kids, and it was just part of our everyday life and we didn’t ask many questions.”
One story that came about regarding Camille Pelletier, was that, wounded in action during his time in the Army, he had spent years in Togus, and it wasn’t until a family member happened upon him, while visiting someone else at the military facility, in Augusta. This story went on to explain that they discovered Mr. Pelletier sweeping floors and were told that he suffered from extreme amnesia and had been a resident there for 15 years.
Through communications with Mr. Pelletier’s sister, Ida Daigle, who resides in Fort Kent, Nancy Michaud and her husband Paul (who knew the serviceman following their marriage) attempted to piece together the real story of what happened to Camille Pelletier.
Although there is still a number of missing pieces the Michauds relate the story in the following way.
Born November 18, 1918, Camille Pelletier enlisted in the U.S. Army in Bangor on June 17, 1942, and was honorably discharged on Jan. 7, 1946.
While serving in the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign, Pvt. Pelletier was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific Ribbon with one bronze star; and the good conduct medal, among others.
According to the Michauds, Pvt. Pelletier was wounded in his left arm, shortly after his arrival in Europe and returned stateside for a brief period. After returning to battle, at some point he was severely injured, the result of stepping on a live grenade and was sent to Vancouver, Washington, for medical treatment and was eventually transferred to Togus, where he was still suffering from extreme burns and amnesia. This period of time was estimated to be 1943.
Receiving no word from their son for more than a year, his parents Remi and Marie Pelletier thought he was missing in action or worse. Eventually (after more than a year) the Red Cross officials were able to locate Pvt. Pelletier’s parents, informing them of his whereabouts.
However, given the distance between Soldier Pond and Augusta, with no car, the soldier’s father traveled by train to see his son. This trip did not occur immediately following the Red Cross news, as with most families during that time, there were responsibilities of taking care of the family farm/homestead and being away for an extensive length of time created any number of hardships.
“My aunt said that the first time her father went to see Camille, he found his son, lying in bed, still recovering from burns and unaware of who he was.”
From that time until 1956, Camille Pelletier remained at Togus, an estimated 13 years, but the one change in the story would be that his family knew where he was but it was too difficult to visit on a regular basis and due to the soldier’s condition, he still required medical attention.
In 1956, Camille Pelletier came home, still unaware of many things including the identification of many people and some family members.
“When my parents were married,” said Nancy, “they did what most young married couples did at that time, they moved into his parents house and raised their family, (Michaud, the oldest child, has three sisters and three brothers) worked on the homestead, and took care of everyone.
“I always remember Uncle Camille being quiet, sometimes laughing or talking to himself but most of all I remember that he loved to cut wood. As kids we would carry in wood as part of our chores, Uncle Camille was very tall, thin and had extremely long arms. While we would only be able to carry a few pieces of wood at a time, I can still see him load what seemed to be a whole pile of wood into his arms, carrying them inside.”
Due to his long-term trauma, Mr. Pelletier had to return to Togus on a nearly annual basis, and would stay there for a month or more, in order to have his medications adjusted. “He would become very upset when he had to go back, after we were married Paul and I would drive him to Togus and he would be either angry or completely silent during the trip. When we went to pick him up, he would be completely different because he knew he was going home,” said Nancy. “Eventually he was able to see a doctor in Fort Kent and that made things much better for him.”
Camille Pelletier died Jan. 16, 1985, at a Fort Kent Hospital.
