After a series of accolades for Jim Provost from numerous parties for his contribution to the community, military service and as a voice for veterans, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer shakes Provost’s hand and presents him with the Upper Peninsula Veteran of the Year Award in 2023. Now Provost is set to be awarded the Michigan Veteran of the Year. (Escanaba Daily Press photo)

MARQUETTE — Marquette resident James A. Provost has been named Michigan’s Veteran of the Year.

Provost will be presented with the Michigan Veteran of the Year award at the American Legion Post 44 in Marquette on Tuesday. The event is free and open to the public. It starts at 6 p.m. with food and refreshments as well as a few key speakers, including Provost himself. On Friday, Provost will be recognized for this award in Detroit at Little Caesars Arena during the Detroit Red Wings game against the Chicago Blackhawks.

“It is really humbling and it is not what we do it for,” said Provost. “My satisfaction is just helping veterans and I have been doing it for 20-something years now. This story goes way back to where it first started when I had a tough time as a veteran coming back from Vietnam.”

He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1965 to 1969 with service in Vietnam in 1966. Once Provost came back, he had a lot of trouble dealing with and understanding the trauma he encountered in Vietnam.

“I didn’t know anything about PTSD or anything like that or what it was all about, I thought I was going nuts,” he said about post-traumatic stress disorder.

After getting help managing his PTSD, Provost swore to dedicate his time and his life to helping other veterans. Starting off small, Provost would help get veterans signed up for health care and to get therapy.

“It really snowballed from there,” said Provost.

Provost has since served on the Marquette County Veterans Affairs Committee for the past decade. As a committee member, he also served as a member of the veterans crisis team. Provost was directly responsible for helping displaced and homeless veterans move into new housing, finding solutions to clean unhealthy living accommodations and spending time with geographically isolated veterans near their end of life. He helped transport at-risk veterans to the Tohma, Wisconsin, VA Medical Center in support of alcohol- and drug-related rehabilitation. He has provided guidance and mentorship to countless veterans in support of working on service-connected disability claims and access to federal Veterans Administration health care. He is also a proud member of the Marquette County Veterans Alliance, American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, AMVETS, Vietnam Veterans of America, Marine Corps League, and 40 & 8.

“I am a member of all of them,” Provost said. “I try to stay going with as much as I can with them. I found that having served in Vietnam and watching my fellow Marines die and stuff and I got to leave, I had such guilt. This is my way to give back to them, those that couldn’t be here anymore and the ones that got left behind that I don’t know what happened to. This is what really motivated me into getting into this.”

His honors and awards include the Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation (Civil Actions w/Palm), Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation (Gallantry Cross w/ Palm), National Defense Service Medal, Vietnamese Service Medal (2*), Vietnamese Campaign Medal, Good Conduct Medal and being named the 2023 U.P. Veteran of the Year.

“It really is a humbling thing, getting this thing (Michigan Veteran of the Year award) though,” said Provost. “Yet I know that on Tuesday night when I am standing up there, there are probably at least a dozen or so guys and girls that I know will be there that deserve this award as much as I do. But they (the veterans) won’t let anyone put them in for it.”

Provost believes that more veterans should apply for various awards and recognition, be it the Marquette County Veteran of the Year, the U.P. Veteran of the Year or even the Michigan Veteran of the Year; there are many veterans who go unnoticed for their great deeds and services to other military members and their own communities. Provost urges that recognizing important veterans can really improve the military community and even the community in which that veteran belongs.

“It doesn’t have to be a veteran that does it,” Provost said. “But what that person has to do is, is go to a veteran that belongs to one of the organizations (AMVETS, American Legion, VFW, VVA, etc.) and say, ‘Hey, Joe Shmoe here has done a hell of a lot, he has helped this, he has helped that. This in the community, that in the community, whatever,’ and put him in for it. We need more of this recognition for them (veterans).”