His father, Robert Tremblay, went into battle at a young age. Barely 20 years old, he answered the call to mobilize for the Korean War and crossed the Pacific Ocean aboard the USS Marine Phoenix in 1952.
Despite his young age, his father sets one thing above all else: strictness. “He rose quickly in the rankings. After just a few years he became a major,” says Leila Tremblay.
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“According to my mother, when he embarked he was already in charge… no wonder! He was a proud, upstanding and, yes… authoritarian man. His place was undoubtedly to be the one in charge: he commanded great respect,” she recalls.
He was part of the 1st Battalion of the Royal 22e Régiment, whose headquarters are in the Citadel of Quebec, while the majority of personnel are stationed at the Valcartier base.
This all-French-speaking regiment left its mark on Koreans largely thanks to the Kaki Charities, an organization that collected the battalion’s food surpluses for redistribution to the country’s hospitals or orphanages.
Robert Tremblay was mobilized in Korea for a little less than a year from May 1952 to March 1953. He was then deployed as a UN peacekeeper in Germany, Congo and Cyprus.
Significant trips
Leila’s father was part of the regular armed forces until May 1972. He then joined the reservist groups, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1977 he finally left military service and served as commander of a reserve unit.
Obviously, this military commitment did not leave him much time to devote to his family.
“A military father is a father who is not very present and often drops by in passing. I never really knew where he went or when he would come back…but he always came back! » mentions Ms. Tremblay.
“I sometimes asked him why he always went so far away. And he told me that he was like that, that he didn’t want to miss anything, that he had to go and discover other cultures, have other experiences. He was interested in everything! ” she adds.
Despite his repeated absences, Ms. Tremblay maintains that she learned a lot from her father and that he passed on to her certain passions that continue to this day.
“He passed on to me his energy, his tenacity and, I hope, a little of his courage. But above all the taste of discovering other worlds! And this passion is passed on from generation to generation,” she says, referring to her children.
A name that doesn’t fall from heaven
It wasn’t until 2018, some time before her mother’s death, that Leila Tremblay learned she had a different name before her father returned from a mission.
“I was born out of wedlock so I was sent to a daycare center, but I was lucky that my birth parents took me back. However, my first name wasn’t Leila back then, and I only found out about that a few years ago,” she begins.
Before Leila Tremblay was officially recognized by her biological parents, she went by the name Catherine-Êve Kirouac.
“I was pre-baptized by my mother in the orphanage. But when my father came back and officially recognized me as his daughter, he named me Leila,” she continues.
During his deployment to Cyprus, Robert Tremblay became friends with the granddaughter of a fellow general. She always called him early in the morning to go swimming: “Hey Mr. Tremblay! Are you coming to swim? » And this little girl’s name was… Leila.
“I found out too late, we could have made a film with it. When my mother confided this to me over coffee one morning, I told her: “But Mom, you have to write that!” exclaims Ms. Tremblay.
Famous people
Over the course of his military career, Robert Tremblay collected several medals. He also accompanied several dignitaries visiting the country, including General de Gaulle and Queen Elizabeth II.
For Leila Tremblay, Memorial Day is very special, not only because of her father’s commitment, but because it is also her father’s birthday.
“This time of year is so important to remember our brave soldiers who made so many sacrifices, lived so many family lives and endured such traumatic experiences, who dedicated so much energy to maintaining peace,” emphasizes Ms Tremblay.
“My father left us a long time ago [1996], but sometimes I feel it very close. “Diving back into our memories touches me a lot and yes… I miss him so much,” she concludes.