Frenchie Podcast

We venture to the Pacific Theater and follow the journey of Millard Mannina, a Cajun from Jeanerette, Louisiana, who had a harrowing experience in some of the bloodiest battles of the war. His main job wasn't fighting the enemy from a foxhole or shooting down Japanese Kamikazes—his mission was to build the critical airstrips on Saipan and Okinawa that allowed the Air Corps' powerful B-29 bombers to bring the air war deep into the heart of mainland Japan. Mannina was on Okinawa—the last major island battle in the Pacific—in 1945 and watched each day as the big four-engine bombers took off from the hastily constructed airfields and disappeared over the horizon. The sights, the sounds, and the saga of the engineers' work on these enemy-held islands left a lasting impression on him.  As we memorialize the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa, Millard Mannina's story is a fitting tribute to those unsung heroes who helped bring an end to the war in the Pacific. We also welcome a rep from the National Museum of the Pacific War to talk about their new developments, including the Society of Sons and Daughters of WWII vets. Visit the museum for more info: www.pacificwarmuseum.org

In observance of this upcoming Memorial Day, I dug way back into the vault of old presentations and pulled out this 2008 tribute to Iberia Parish WWII veterans for a special event at the old Sliman Theater in my hometown of New Iberia, Louisiana. The event was a grand affair, in a pack house full of veterans and their families and hosted by the Iberia Cultural Resources Association. The audio quality is not the best, but the message of gratitude to this great generation still rings loud and clear today. Unfortunately, like so many communities across the nation, there aren't many WWII veterans left. But events like this remind us all of their sacrifice, courage, and contributions to our way of life.  

Finding stories of Frenchies through letters, interviews, and family memorabilia has been a collaborative effort over many years. The families of veterans have played no small part in preserving and sharing these stories. This episode features stories of Charles Ducote, Alton Girouard, John Bacque, and Prigeon Fontenot--one of the last living Frenchies of WWII, who my son and I had the honor of interviewing in 2021.

On this Veteran's Day, we revisit a recent Frenchie event at the Roy House, home of UL Press and the Center for Louisiana Studies. This October 3, 2024 gathering marked the official launch of the Frenchie book. Center director Josh Caffery and my son Jackson Theriot join us to talk about this memorable evening that featured special guest Shirley Guidry, one of the last Frenchie WWII veterans from Louisiana. 

In this episode titled “Finding Frenchie," we revisit the origins of this project and pay tribute to many of the families who graciously shared stories and memorabilia about their Frenchie WWII veterans. This project has had many influences over the years, perhaps none more important than a feature story written by George Morris in the Baton Rouge Advocate in Nov. 2019 titled “Cajun Frenchies helped to win the war.” That newspaper story was a catalyst for re-launching this Frenchie project, which 5-years later turned into a book, titled Frenchie: The Story of the French-Speaking Cajuns of WWII published in Sept. 2024 by UL Press. 

This June 6th marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day when the free world again turns its attention to the beaches of Normandy, to honor the sacrifices of so many and to pay tribute to the last of those who liberated Europe in WWII. In this episode, we reflect back on the 60th Anniversary of D-Day when I had the honor to visit the grave of Houston Duhon, a Cajun killed at Omaha Beach on the first wave. His best friend in the service, Carroll Mestayer, jumped off the Higgins boat with him and carried his lifeless body to the shore. Carroll survived the battle and lived to tell the story of that event on Bloody Omaha Beach and about his journey across his ancestral homeland as a French-speaking Cajun.

On August 11, 1944, a 15-man OSS Special Forces team parachuted into the mountainous region of Southern France to rendezvous with the French Underground and sabotage enemy troop movements. Roy Armentor and Claude Galley—two Cajuns from south Louisiana—were part of this Operational Group codenamed PEG. For two weeks, they conducted hit-n-run missions behind enemy lines alongside their French counterparts. Both were severely wounded and were taken in by local French people. The Cajun French language, which they had been told to forget growing up in school, proved invaluable to their experiences in WWII.

Of the 450 men in US Army VII Corps HQ, only one spoke French—Ned Arceneaux, from Lafayette. As the Quartermaster for his unit, Ned was in charge of precuring all the supplies. When they landed on Utah Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944, Ned's French-speaking abilities proved invaluable to his commanding officers and to his comrades. He served as an interpreter for Gen. J. Lawton Collins, known as “Lighting Joe,” one of the senior leaders in the European Theater during WWII.

In the mid-night hours of September 10, 1944, Captain Orleans Pitre, a Cajun from Cut-Off, Louisiana, jumped out of an airplane over France with a team of special agents from the Office of Strategic Services. Their mission: to rendezvous with the French Maquis, supply them with weapons, and coordinate attacks against the retreating Germans. Pitre was one of a handful of Cajuns recruited by the OSS because of their French. Their secret missions behind enemy lines are the stuff of legend. Listen to his amazing story, as documented by his nephew in a 1991 interview.   

The stories of the Acadians and Cajuns are intertwined and remarkably similar. In October 2022, I had the honor of traveling to the Acadian heartland in the Canadian Maritime Provinces to interview the last of the French-speaking Acadian veterans of WWII. In this special episode, you will hear stories from the veterans themselves, from family members, and from local experts. Most fought in Italy, France, Belgium, and Holland. Many did not speak good English when they joined, but they learned quickly. The Acadians were dispersed throughout nearly every branch of the Canadian Armed Forces, so learning English in the military was an imperative. Once overseas, however, their French language became valuable in communicating with locals, particularly when they came ashore in Normandy. My journey to Canada to find the last Acadian vets stemmed from the “Cajun-Acadian WWII Commemoration” event at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans in April 2022. You can watch the entire program here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynrhj8iCU48&t=274s

The Cajun Ace, Jeff Deblanc, shot down 5 enemy aircraft in one engagement in the South Pacific. For this, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. It's an amazing story of aviation agility, skill, and grit—but it's not the whole story. Enroute over the Solomon Islands, DeBlanc's external fuel tank on his F-4F airplane malfunctioned. He realized at that moment that he would not have enough fuel to complete the mission and make it back to Guadalcanal. But he pressed on anyway knowing that, after the battle, he would have to ditch his plane in the ocean, swim to a remoted island, and survive there until rescued. He was confident in his ability to survive because he was reared in the Atchafalaya Basin swamp and he could speak fluent French and a bit of Spanish to communicate to the natives if he had to. Somehow, some way, he would make it out alive. This is a story about one of Louisiana greatest war heroes and one of the most amazing World War II stories you'll ever come across.

This is a Frenchie love story, as told by Dennis Neal, a Cajun from Pointe-au-Chien, who met his wife while stationed in France in WWII. Dennis was assigned to a military intelligence unit and drove a jeep for two officers who gathered communications from the French underground. While in Paris, Dennis met a French girl, who became his war bride. The couple, and their infant son, returned to Louisiana after the war and lived a quiet, comfortable life in Terrebonne Parish as a bi-lingual family.

Norris Morvant, a WWII veteran from Thibodaux, La, was one of our honorees at the recently held “Cajun-Acadian WWII Commemoration” at the National World War II Museum. He was one of a dozen French-speaking WWII veterans whom I had the chance to interview since resurrecting this long-running oral history project in late 2019. He was assigned to Gen. Eisenhower's headquarters in France as a liaison man with the 89th Compliment Squadron of the 8th Air Corps. His primary mission was to drive across France in a jeep to deliver orders and small equipment to commanders on the field. His Cajun French became a valuable asset on his many backroad adventures. To watch a video of my onstage interview with Norris Morvant at the WWII Commemoration event, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynrhj8iCU48&t=0s  

In this special episode, we revisit the recently-held "Cajun-Acadian WWII Commemoration" that took place at the National World War II Museum in April 2022. This historic event—20 years in the making—was a collaboration between myself, the Consulate General of Canada, and the WWII Museum in New Orleans. We honored 4 French-speaking WWII veterans; 3 from south Louisiana and 1 from Beaubassin in New Brunswick, Canada. We were joined in the Freedom Pavilion by several dignitaries and guest speakers. It was the first time that the “Frenchies” were recognized on such a grand stage. A link to the hour-long video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynrhj8iCU48&t=0s  

In Part II of the Cajun National Guard, we follow these young men to the shores of North Africa, Italy, and Southern France where they served as combat military police. Several hundred Cajuns from the Bayou Country made up the 2nd Battalion of the 156th Infantry Regiment. According to records, the 2nd Battalion was sent to North Africa “due to its French linguistic abilities.” These French-speaking Cajuns utilized their language skills in communication, intelligence gathering, interpreting, escort guard duty, transportation, and security. It was in French North Africa where these Cajun “Frenchies” first became highly sought after, and the military found many of them among the rank and file from the Louisiana National Guard.

In Episode 5, we chronicle the Cajuns of the Louisiana National Guard. The 2nd Battalion of the 156th Inf. Reg. (31st Dixie Division) consisted of several companies of guardsmen from the bayou country. Nearly all of them grew up speaking French as their first language. This entire unit spent more than 2 years training together before being shipped overseas as combat military police units. The history of this Cajun Guard unit is particularly unique, as it represented the largest French-speaking American infantry unit within the US military during World War II. In this first of a two-part series, you will hear voices of several of these veterans from New Iberia, Jeanerette, Lafayette, and Breaux Bridge and how they kept their culture and French-language in tact through the first years of the war.

In 1941, Bernice LeJeune was told by the army that his Cajun French language would be of “no use to the US military.” Two years later, he found himself on the shores of North Africa assigned as a French Interpreter for an American colonel. LeJeune traveled with this colonel all throughout the Mediterranean Campaign and helped maintain liaisons with the French people and the French army at the famous battles of Casino and Anzio in Italy. His Cajun French language served him well; it kept him from the front-line fighting in the foxholes and helped to bridge the communication gab among allies during the crucial Italian campaign. Claude Broussard and E. J. LeBlanc—two other Frenchie Cajuns who fought in Italy—share their stories of combat as well in this episode.

In this episode, we transition from the front lines to the high seas, and feature stories from Cajuns who served in the US Navy. These Cajuns had the occasion to speak their native French to other Francophones while in the Pacific or onboard ship, and some were actually engaged in interpreting for military commanders with French leaders. This episode features stories from Willis Granger, Jonas Perrin, Ovide Lancon, and James Warren David who had a distinguished career in the navy and served as an interpreter for a vice admiral. 

Sam Broussard was born and raised in Breaux Bridge, LA, and served as an intelligence officer with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). He came ashore on Omaha Beach on D-Day as the intelligence officer with the US First Army. He led a special forces detachment unit throughout Normandy and Brittany on various missions alongside French resistance groups behind enemy lines. From France, he led additional missions in Belgium and Germany with Belgian underground forces. This episode includes excerpts from two interviews with Sam from the 1980s, including an interview done entirely in French. 

Bob Leblanc, a native of Vermilion Parish, served as a liaisons officer with Special Forces Detachment No. 11 in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). He came ashore in Normandy with Gen. Patton's Third Army and led a small advanced team behind enemy lines to coordinate activities with French resistance fighters. His ability to not only speak French, but to read and write it, gave him distinct advantages in the military. He also served in China with the OSS and later became commander of the Louisiana National Guard. This episode features excerpts from three separate interviews with Bob LeBlanc over a fifteen-year span.