Hockey: Canada vs USA, USA vs Canada: Torment, Torment, Torment

If my readers haven’t figured it out, I am a French Canadian Canuck Frog. So there!

Canada's Olympic Hockey Team

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - The Olympic Games Hockey Finals gave me an intense case of temporary schizophrenia. I wanted USA to win because I was born in USA and consider myself to be a USA American.

By the same token, most of my ancestors are French Canadian and they have been there for 350 years. In fact I believe they were in Canada first and I take great pride in that. My cousin was Rene Leve(s)que, one of the Premiers (leader = President) of Quebec. Not many non-Leve(s)ques can make such a prideful statement.

Another was WWII Canadian Air Marshal Billy Bishop (born William Levesque). He was the most decorated Canadian fighter pilot in World War One. Again, not many non-Leve(s)ques can make such a prideful statement.

I was sitting in my chair with my eyes glued to the TV screen throughout the entire hockey game and said to myself, 'how can I cheer for one team or the other? Why, why can’t each team be playing some other team?'.

It was reassuring that one team would win the gold and the other would win the silver.

What really screwed things up was that the USA team did beat Canada the week before; who do I root for, the winner or the loser?

I cheered for every goal but cheered the most when USA scored in the final 24 seconds of the game, causing a tie. The only thing - a tie could not settle the game.

In the final, sudden death overtime, I was really on the edge of my seat. When Canada scored I wept for the winners and wept for the losers. The announcers said most people watching there were weeping also, and I was comforted that I was not alone.

The most surprising part of the event was announcing the names of the American and the Canadian team members.

I did NOT expect to hear many French names on the USA team, and I don’t recall any (maybe a few).

On the Canadian team, I DID expect to hear some, finally I heard a few. The surprise was that Canada is a MELTING POT, just like the USA. I didn’t hear of any Leve(s)ques but the French names were probably my cousins.

To clarify for people who look up my name on computers, here is a collection of the various spellings: Levesque, Lévêque, Leveque, L’Eveque, L’Évêque, Levac, Levack, Levaque, LeVeque, Leveck, LeVeck, Levki, Levi. They are all my cousins. If you are confused, so am I.

The dictionary says LEVEQUE means BISHOP.

to Albert: Une Mille Mercis!

Before any of that, Phil Leveque was a Combat Infantryman in the U.S. Army in WWII. He suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder more than 60 years after the war, and specialized in treating Veterans with PTSD during his years as a doctor in Molalla, Oregon. Do you have a question, comment or story to share with Dr. Leveque?
Email him: ASK DR. LEVEQUE
More information on the history of Dr. Leveque can be found in his book, General Patton's Dogface Soldier of WWII about his own experiences "from a foxhole". Order the book by mail by following this link: DOGFACE SOLDIER OF WWII If you are a World War II history buff, you don't want to miss it.