War veteran who survived D-Day will turn 100 on Remembrance Day
'I have a hard time believing I'm 100 years old because people don't live that long,' says war veteran
With his sense of humour and hearty laugh, it's hard to believe Leslie Jacques will soon turn 100 years old.
Even he has trouble accepting it.
"I have a hard time believing I'm a 100 years old because people don't live that long," said Jacques laughing.
"Every day is a bonus."
"Every day is a bonus!"<br>Leslie Jacques is a WWII veteran who is turning 100 years old on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RememberanceDay?src=hash">#RememberanceDay</a>. <a href="https://t.co/jOiyhkzKFF">pic.twitter.com/jOiyhkzKFF</a>
—@KamilKaramaliSecond World War veteran
It's rare to make it to 100 years of age, but what makes Jacques' story unique is that the Second World War veteran is celebrating the milestone on Nov. 11, Remembrance Day.
Jacques, who now lives in Surrey, B.C. grew up on his family's farm in rural Saskatchewan with his five siblings.
He volunteered to join the Royal Canadian Air Force after the Great Depression in the 1930s.
"My parents were doing quite well until the Depression arrived. Then, all of a sudden, we didn't have any money coming in."
Jacques trained to become a wireless operator and flew to England in December of 1942. He was 25 at the time.
Jacques joined a six-man squadron, tasked with flying over enemy territory and dropping paratroopers. The members of the team became inseparable.
"You were living in this dangerous time," said Jacques. "Every time we went out on an [operation], you didn't know whether you were going to come back or not."
"There was always that possibility, so we were a pretty close-knit group."
D-Day
Jacques said his most memorable day of the war was D-Day, also known as the Normandy landings.
He said he and his team were one of the first to begin the attack, by dropping paratroopers behind enemy lines just after midnight on June 6, 1944.
It's was also a day that he nearly died.
"I was just standing up and looking out [the window] and I can see tracer bullets going through the air and the tracers were just coming in behind us," said Jacques.
"I got on the intercom and said 'skipper, let's get out of here. They're shooting at us.'"
Health problems
Jacques glowed as he reminisced about the past. But his mood darkened when asked about his health.
"Eyesight is not worth a damn," said Jacques. "Pardon my English"
Jacques spends most of his time sitting on a sofa at the Rosemary Heights assisted living facility. He has a motorized wheelchair, but he doesn't see the point of leaving his home with his limited vision.
His memory is fairly sharp, but he gets frustrated when he forgets important information.
"As I'm talking, I forget things," said Jacques. "They won't come to mind. So it's a bit embarrassing sometimes when you can't remember your wife's name."
Secret to longevity
Jacques secret to a long life? "You have a scotch every night and that guarantees you won't have a heart attack or a stroke," said Jacques.
He was married three times and he adopted two daughters with his first wife, which he described as one of the happiest moments of his life.
He's also travelled back to England and vacationed in Zimbabwe with his current wife, Anne.
All of those happy moments have kept him going, he said, though he stressed again the value of his favourite drink.
"I have one drink of scotch every night and it works fine," said Jacques. "It works for me."
AUDIO: CBC reporter Geoff Leo interviews his grandfather on his 100th birthday
