Marlowe V. Paul
MJ and families:
I was saddened to see a familiar face looking at me when I opened the Saturday classified newspaper section.
“I know this guy,” I said to my wife. “We were in the #2293 – 2nd Battalion The North Saskatchewan Regiment Cadet Corps together.”
I know this guy I thought to myself, but I hadn’t seen him or had contact with him in over 40 years. What makes you remember someone after not seeing them for that long?
Upon reading the rest of the obituary column I knew why. We all know that Bernie had the ability with that impish smile to connect to people in a believable way. The military used to call it the “man management” smile. It’s the ability to be able to bring chaos/anarchy under control or to get the best out of people and make them believe in themselves. It reminded me of a story about Bernie and I.
Our Cadet Corps was a strong unit traditionally held together by a series of top-notch officers/commanders and a strong company sergeant-major. Most of the years we had between 50-70 cadets until one year when I was going into Grade 10 at Walter Murray and Bernie was going into Grade 11 at Feehan a 125 people showed up for our initial parade of the year.
Bernie and I had received our Master Cadet designations the previous year and had both been promoted to cadet lieutenant. Our adult leaders had to make a choice between Bernie and myself for the second-in-command position and the company sergeant-major position. One was a promotion to captain and one was a demotion to a very high profile, prestigious, and important position among the soldiers.
The adults asked Bernie firstly which position he wanted and he asked to be the company sergeant-major. This turned out for everyone to be the absolute best decision that possibly could have been made. For the next two years because of Bernie the cadet corps continued to be at the top of the province at the annual inspection time. Bernie also joined the local militia when he turned of age. We all knew that Bernie was and would be excellent soldier and leader. So it was no surprise when he joined the regular military out of high school. It just seemed like a natural thing for him to do. It doesn’t surprise me that he went through the ranks to be a major in a short time!
So I am pleased that his time among us was well spent. I am sorry to have not kept in touch with him over the years since our adolescence. As I look out the window of Caswell School where I will retire from this year I can see the Sgt. Hugh Cairns V.C. Armoury where I remember many fond memories of my/our friend Bernie Novakowsky.
Sincerely,
Marlowe V. Paul
