When Gisele Michaud lays a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Remembrance Day, she will represent all the mothers who have lost a son or daughter in the Canadian Forces.
Michaud is this year鈥檚 National Silver Cross Mother.
, she told CTV鈥檚 Chief Anchor Lisa LaFlamme about what the award means to her.
鈥淭his year is really the most special year, because of the two soldiers that died a few weeks ago,鈥� she said, referring to Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, run down in Quebec by a man the federal government linked to terrorism, and Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, shot and killed at the very memorial where Michaud will pay her respects.
Michaud鈥檚 son, Master Cpl. Charles-Philippe Michaud, 28, was wounded after stepping on an improvised explosive devise while on patrol southwest of Kandahar City in 2009.
Gisele Michaud got a heart-wrenching 5 a.m. knock on the door from soldiers who told her of the explosion.
Charles-Philippe was airlifted to Germany, and then to Quebec, where she visited him in hospital.
鈥淗e was intubated. He couldn't speak but his eyes -- there were tears,鈥�
He died about 10 days later.
Military work was his calling, she said. 鈥淲hen he was really young, he used to dress like a soldier, and as he grew up, he wanted to be a soldier.鈥�
Michaud and her husband made a trip to Kandahar after their son鈥檚 death, to see where he had spent his final months.
What she saw was, 鈥渁 place that needed to be helped.鈥�
She better understood her son. 鈥淗e gave his life, the ultimate sacrifice of his life,鈥� , 鈥渂ut it was not in vain.鈥�
