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By Larry Grard
TPI Feature Writer
WATERVILLE — Bourque-Lanigan American Legion Post 5 broke the mold when it selected Michael Coyne as its Legionnaire of the Year in June.
The Legionnaire of the Year Award is supposed to be given once to a Post 5 member. But the Bourque-Lanigan executive committee decided that Coyne, who lives in Augusta, should receive the honor for a second time. Coyne earned the distinction for the first time in 1984 – while he was still living in Waterville and working as a chef at Colby College.
Coyne, who served in the U.S. Army from 1962 through 1965, said he tried to tell Post Commander Ernie Paradis that he already had received the award, and wasn’t supposed to win it again.
“He said, ‘That was then,’” Coyne recalled. “I was surprised. I said, ‘Why me?’ I had done nothing extraordinary or anything more than any other members do.”
Paradis begs to disagree.
“Mike is someone who steps up to the plate,” Paradis said. “Mike recruits. Mike is always at every function he could be at. He goes to every funeral. I ask him to do something, he’s always volunteering. It’s an honor to be the Legionnaire of the Year.”
Coyne, Paradis and other members of Post 5 marched or rode in the traditional Waterville Veterans Day Parade on Nov. 11.
Coyne, who grew up in New York, attended culinary school in Connecticut, and joined the Army in 1962. He served as a cook for 18 months in Germany and 18 months stateside. Coyne moved to Surry in 1968 to take a job at Maine Coast Hospital in Ellsworth, and has held several positions since, in several Maine towns. He moved to Waterville in 1973.
Coyne recalled a time when his fellow Legionnaires really came to bat for him after he suffered a heart attack. While recuperating, Paradis arranged for heating oil to be delivered to Coyne’s home.
“There are a lot of things that stick in my memory,” Coyne said. “That’s why I’ve stayed with the Post. It’s a great organization and they’re a great bunch of people.”
He even enjoys the meetings.
“When it comes right down to it,” he said, “it’s veterans helping other veterans, trying to keep all the benefits that we have and lobbying in the legislature. There aren’t that many veterans in the legislature anymore. They just don’t understand. They have their own agenda. For me and for the Legion, it’s a team effort.”
Coyne also is a member of the DAV and AMVETS.
He lives in Augusta with his wife, Marlene. He has three sons.
Larry Grard photo
Legionnaire of the Year Mike Coyne, left, and Bourque-Lanigan American Legion Post 5 Commander Ernie Paradis pose in the parking lot of the former Post home on College Avenue, prior to the Waterville Veterans Day parade. Thompson Volkswagon provided cars for some of the men to ride in on the cold morning.
