The Island - P&S: Louisiana, Mississippi, Beaumont/Port Arthur, TX

[vl100butch]

The Hurricane Preparedness Group
October-November 1983

Governors Treen and Winter held a news conference in mid-October 1983 announcing the formation of a coordination group and study of how the two states could work better together when hit by a hurricane. They were pleased to announce that the recently retired Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Robert Barrow, agreed to head the working group. Like politicians everywhere, they were even more pleased to announce that the Federal government would be providing all the funding.

On the E-ring, there was a mixture of relief and irritation about activist Congressmen coming up with projects that didn't seem to make sense with the world situation. However, the reactions of the Chief of Staff of the Army and the Commandant of the Marine Corps quashed most of the bureaucratic questioning.

Funding started to flow to the counties and parishes in both states to work on plans for not if but when a major storm would hit. Efforts over the past couple of months to get local government officials to talk to each other paid off as the more aggressive local governments had a good idea of what worked and what didn't.

Evacuation plans from the coastal towns and cities were dusted off and refined. Local governments relooked what outside help they would need to house evacuees for several months. Even though the world situation was worsening, the creaking machinery of bureaucracy was starting to move on what looked like on the surface to be something totally unrelated.

At the same time, a group of retired military personnel started heading to Avery Island.

​

 

[Unknown]

Good cover for nuclear war preparations...

BTW, they can both serve the same purposes.

 

[vl100butch]

Coming Home - Continued
November 5, 1985

As the train crossed the Rigolets and entered Orleans Parish, the soldier got up and headed to the restroom. The green-eyed girl and her mother noticed that he walked with a noticeable limp. As the train went through New Orleans East and Gentilly, his mood seemed to lighten. When the train pulled into the Union Passenger Terminal, the soldier asked if they would like to share a ride across the river although he didn't know if they'd need to get down to the ferry or find a ride across the bridge.

As they walked down the platform toward the terminal, an older man with two boys in uniform came up to the soldier and saluted him. The soldier stood at attention and returned the salute. The older man asked his name, the soldier told him "Kerner, James W., Captain, Field Artillery".

"Captain, we've been waiting for you, the cadets will take you bags," said the older man.

"Thanks Chief, I need to get a ride over to the West Bank and I'd like these two ladies to come with me. Someone in my family must have made it through, so I need to find out who. How did you know I was coming?" asked the soldier.

"We've got pretty good comms throughout the command area now, something called the ARPANET. Don't ask me how it works, but the computers at all the colleges can talk to each other. When you checked in at Tuscaloosa, they sent a message to New Orleans. Your ride is taken care of, a lot of people are glad to see you home," responded the Chief.

As they walked into the terminal, a couple a bit older than the mother came up to the soldier. The woman hugged the soldier and the tears began to flow. "You actually made it home," she said, "Happy Birthday, Jimmy."

The soldier smiled at his mother and looked at his father, "Where you at, Daddy?" The soldier's accent had unconsciously shifted back to the "Yat" dialect of his childhood. His father said he was doing fine now. The soldier introduced the green-eyed girl and her mother and explained what they needed. His mother said they could help them out.

Like any mother, she then asked her son if he had eaten and if he wanted something to eat. The soldier asked if Cafe Du Monde had made it through. His parents laughed and said of course it's still there, "Beginets?" asked his mother. "Yep," answered the soldier.

"Captain, next Monday call over at the Naval Air Station. We'd like to debrief you about what you've seen and how you got back," said the Chief. "They're probably going to want you to go to Avery Island for a couple of days."

"Avery Island?" asked the soldier.

"Yes sir," answered the Chief. "Been a lot of crazy things going on since the balloon went up. But since today is your birthday and your first day home, that can wait."

One more soldier made it home. TO BE CONTINUED





​

 

[vl100butch]

Professionals study logistics
November 1984

The first working group meeting between the "Hurricane Preparedness Group" and representatives of the various active and reserve components took place in mid-November 1984. The Air Force was largely left out of the initial preparations and when the representative from Keesler AFB left the meeting, he immediately got on the phone and contacted his counterparts at Barksdale, England, and Columbus AFBs. Bottom line, you need to have someone at the next meeting who can speak for your commander and can make some decisions was the word conveyed.

The two major issues surfaced at the first meeting were food and equipment. Both states had enhanced brigades that were early mobilizations. Other units were expected to be called out of both states as well. The only unit guaranteed to stay behind was the 159th Tactical Fighter Group because of the air defense mission. Both Property and Fiscal Officers (USP&FO) agreed that the local defense and relief mission would rely on the State Guard and whatever Federal assets were left behind.

The State Guard forces in both states were poorly equipped. Planners thought that the state would have time to adjust after mobilization and to organize a follow-on force. Everyone agreed that all forces should be equipped with similar weapons but it also would depend on what they could get their hands on. The old Master Gunners, Warrant Officers, and Sergeants Major took to this mission with a vengeance. Forgotten stockpiles of weapons were found in all sorts of places and were shipped to the USP&FOs in Jackson and New Orleans.

State Guard cadres were formed in counties and parishes were issued weapons from these stocks. Additional weapons, in some cases in cosmoline from World War 1, were stored in salt mines and similar places. Representatives from the working groups visited Anniston and Red River Army Depots, knowing that all sorts of things could be found if you knew what you were looking for. A good example was the M-151 with 106mm recoilless rifle mounted. This had a different stock number than the M-151 and the 106mm recoilless rifle separately.

It was totally amazing what was available, if you knew what questions to ask. The equipment was obsolescent at best, but in a lot of cases it was brand new. Even as the mobilization pipeline was starting to crank up, planners were looking for more modern equipment. Personnel at the depots were glad to have someone who wanted the stuff, simply to get rid of it. Quantities were identified and earmarked, the stage was getting set for the great January supply runs.

Rations were a bit more difficult, MRE production was ramping up and slated for the mobilized components. Brig Gen McIlhenny contacted the Baumer company in New Orleans, competitors in the hot sauce business but a long-time supplier of C Ration components. Baumer was getting out of the ration business as it was too much "feast or famine" but with some help from Senator Long and Governor Treen, they agreed to begin production of a "Hurricane Ration". The "Hurricane Ration" was more like the British 24 hour pack. Although available in limited quantities before the nuclear exchange, it proved popular and is still in use today.

Small arms ammunition came out of the forgotten stockpiles, but again discovery of another existing asset, the Red River Army Ammunition Plant east of Shreveport provided a source for new manufacture munitions before the nuclear exchange. Although relatively lightly damaged after the exchange, production was not resumed until the late 1980s.



​

 

[vl100butch]

The Hurricane Preparedness Group
Unintended Happy Consequenses
November-December 1983

An anticipated consequence of forming the Hurricane Preparedness Group was it focused state and local government to prepare for a problem which they understood intimately. After complaints in the legislatures and by local governments, the preparedness group expanded to look at tornado preparedness across the central and northern sections of Louisiana and Mississippi. The fact that actions necessary to prepare a community for a hurricane or tornado was an 85-90% solution to prepare for a nuclear attack was ignored by the more disruptive elements within state and local government as they lobbied to get their entities more funding.

Once the group got underway, they were contacted by emergency preparedness officials in Alabama, who wanted to someone at the table as well. Word had filtered back to Montgomery about the Mississippi border counties setting up emergency contacts with their Alabama counterparts and the merits of such an obvious idea just made common sense. Texas of course was another story entirely, with the normal mentality of "We're Texas, we're bigger and better than you." Other than establishing links with cooperative local officials, Texas was not a player, a move that Texas would later regret.

Evacuation plans were refined for coastal areas, but required 48-60 hours notice to fully implement. Shelter in place was determined to be the best solution for people in the tornado belt. The unmentioned 500 pound gorilla in the discussion was how would you be able to evacuate places like Shreveport, Jackson, Alexandria, and Montgomery. Those with a military background understood that Shreveport and Montgomery would be primary targets and would targeted by multiple nuclear warheads.


​

 

[vl100butch]

another author's editorial break....

reading the EPA manual I posted the link to yesterday on page 2 of this thread, I was amazed to learn that railroads in Hiroshima were operational the day after being hit by an atomic bomb!!!!! the ramifications of this will be seen in New Orleans, Jackson, Baton Rouge and the Meridian area...

based on multiple warhead hits, I'm anticipating that the north-south railroads at Alexandria, Shreveport, Fort Polk, and Memphis were close enough to ground zero where the tracks were basically vaporized, requiring major reconstruction efforts once radiation levels go down....same thing goes for the Birmingham area....

another thing to keep in mind, this timeline is written from a military viewpoint, not a lot of attention will be paid to the local political infighting...in this timeline it doesn't matter as much as this effort is seen as more than an individual state working to survive, but a group effort with a viable and visible Federal government entity in US Gulf States Command...

besides that, the Marines were in charge and they weren't going to take shit from any tinpot Klansman or Black Panther....much less any politician trying to line their own pockets...

 

[vl100butch]

Beginets - Part 1
November 5, 1985

A happy group left Union Passenger Terminal, the soldier got in a pickup truck with his parents and the green-eyed girl and her mother were shepherded into a crew-cab with the cadets and the Chief.

"You probably have a whole lot of questions and I'll try to answer some of them before we get to Cafe Du Monde. My job today is to make sure that young Captain gets home," the Chief explained.

"It seems like y'all have made quite an effort for him and to have his parents here," asked the mother.

"Well, his father is the senior captain of the Freeport Sulphur Company boats, he's been keeping a lot of people supplied and things running down below Venice," answered the Chief. "Now that young Captain, he's the first soldier we've seen here that went through it all in Germany."

"So the limp?" asked the green-eyed girl.

"He was probably wounded, we don't have that much information other than his name, where he came from, and where he was heading," answered the Chief.

In the other pickup truck...

"Have you heard anything about Jane?" asked the soldier's mother.

"She's gone, she was in London when the bombs hit," answered the soldier. "There are limited communications between whats left of BAOR (British Army of the Rhine) and what's left of UK. I was able to ask and was told that very few if anyone even got of London, I know she was on shift when it happened."

"Anyway, I need to figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. Not much use for someone that knows how to shoot cannons any more," said the soldier.

The soldier looked down Canal Street as they headed down to Decatur and into the French Quarter.

"Seems pretty busy?"

"Yep," answered his father. "Gasoline and diesel were never a problem around here, Norco and Alliance came through undamaged and they are trying to piece together what they can salvage to get Exxon in Baton Rouge running again. Even Oronite (fuel additive plant) came through undamaged"

The soldier started laughing, "Gawd, of all things to survive and of course it still stinks?"

His parents laughed, the soldier's disgust at the smells coming from that plant began as a very young child, it was the least favorite part of going to Port Sulphur.

As they drove down Decatur toward the Cafe the solider asked, "Seems a lot less touristy now. Guess there aren't a lot of people coming down any more?"

"Well, there are a couple of flights a day out of Moisant but you're not going to get much further than Beaumont or Birmingham if you drive," answered his mother.

The sure sign that things had changed for the soldier was the ease in getting a parking place. The second pickup pulled up close by and everyone headed toward the green awning that was still there.


​

 

[vl100butch]

Meanwhile, back in Washington DC
December 1983-January 1984

Senators Lott and Long settled into a pattern of a couple of meetings a week as the world situation deteriorated. They would discuss issues and decide who would take the lead. Through their staffers, they maintained contact with the Chief of Staff and the Commandant. By early January 1984, due to mobilization they felt it was time to see the GEN Vessey and the President.

GEN Vessey had heard of the Hurricane Preparedness group and thought it was a good idea, but seemed to be a bit out of synch with what was going on in the world. Senator Long smiled and said the magic words, "You do know that most of what we're doing to get ready for hurricanes and tornadoes is applicable to civil defense in case of a nuclear attack."

Senator Long continued on the vein that if things went badly, he wanted to make sure General Barrow had legitimate authority to command. Senator Lott then told the Chairman that they wanted to create a new Unified Command under mobilization authority which included all military forces in Louisiana, Mississippi, and contiguous areas. The senators wanted to have a nomination list ready for confirmation by the beginning of February. For public consumption, the headquarters would be located at Barksdale AFB in Shreveport. In reality, the actual command post would be at Avery Island.

Like everyone else, the Chairman asked why Avery Island. The senators laughed and handed him a bottle of TABASCO. They also said that they wanted to go straight to the President with this and avoid his staffers and needed the Chairman's help. When the situation looked serious enough, they would run a list of appointments through the Senate for confirmation. For the moment, they wanted to keep things moving at the local level and announce the new organization at the last possible moment.

The Chairman was able to get the Senators into a quick meeting with the President in late January, 1984. Although records of the meeting were later found, keeping the staffers out left a knowledge void which was not fixed until the events of May 1984. After recall of the Nebraska and Kansas congressional delegations, the Senators brought the list up to the remaining quorm for confirmation. The list was confirmed on a voice vote with no comment.

Later on, while Senator Long was underneath the Greenbrier, Strom Thurmond asked him what exactly was going on with that nomination list. Being almost as good a storyteller as his father, Russell Long told the story of the United States Gulf States Command that he and Trent Lott brought into being. Then to much laughter, he explained that besides appointing General Barrow, the list promoted several other people, among them the Archbishop of New Orleans and Chief Rabbi at Temple Sinai in the Army and Navy Reserve respectively. The catch was, the Archbishop and the Rabbi didn't know they were on the list. "I wonder who's going to tell them?" asked Senator Long to much more laughter.


​

 

[Archangel]

Subscribed, vl100butch!

 

[vl100butch]

Whaaaaat?
January 1984

Even though a shooting war was about to begin in Europe, the everyday bureaucracy of the military ground on. So when the Senate confirmed the nomination list for US Gulf States Command, copies were forwarded to the services for action.

Two men on the list caused considerable befuddlement within the personnel communities. A Catholic Archbishop and a Rabbi were confirmed as a Colonel, US Army Reserve and Commander, US Navy Reserve respectively. Part of the problem was that no one could find any records on them. So, a series of phone calls were made, some to New Orleans and later to the records depository in St Louis.

Their personnel files were found in the repository and after having reviewed the individual files, the logic of these appointments was clear. Archbishop Hannan had served as a regimental chaplain in the 82d Airborne and Rabbi Blackman had served with the 2d Marine Division. Appropriate appointment packets and a copy of their Senate confirmation were put together and sent to them via US Mail. At the same time, the appropriate religious authorities were notified.

The New Orleans Archdiocese got a phone call from the Archdiocese of the armed forces. Rabbi Blackman got a call from from the Navy Chief of Chaplains office. The reaction in both places was, "WHAT?", followed by, "you've got to be kidding!"
​

 

[vl100butch]

Beginets - part 2
November 5, 1984

The group went under the green awning and as the area was only about half full, pulled a couple of tables together and sat down. Cafe Du Monde has it's own pace about how soon a waiter will come to your table and the soldier noticed that hadn't changed.

The soldier read the menu on the napkin container and looked up at the waiter who just walked up, "Chocolate Milk?" he asked.

"Haven't had any in a while," answered the waiter. "But we did get a milk shipment in this morning, you want a glass?"

"Glass?" asked the soldier. "What happened to cartons?"

"Can't get them any more, so we get it in big cans," answered the waiter.

The soldier smiled, and told the waiter "I would love a glass of milk. I guess we need 7 orders of beginets and whatever everyone wants to drink."

The green-eyed girl looked at the saucer and the pile of powdered sugar on the beginets and wondered how are you supposed to eat them. The soldier laughed and told her to knock the excess sugar off first, but to be careful because they were probably very hot.

The soldier asked the two cadets where they were going to school. The first answered "Jesuit" and the second answered "Newman".

"Newman?" asked the soldier. "That's different."

"Yes sir," answered the cadet. "All the schools here offer JROTC now. As the Chief says, 'we have to teach you enough to stay alive.'"

The soldier's mother broke in with a change of subject. She told the green-eyed girl that her brother was an administrator at West Jefferson General and that the hospital kept a couple of rooms for when people came in from out of town. The mother said she'd call and make sure things were set up.

A voice from behind the soldier said, "Sergeant, take Mrs. Kerner over to the Cathedral and let her call her brother. Welcome home son." Colonel (Archbishop) Hannan waved to the Chief and the cadets to stay seated.

"Jimmy, good to see you," said a second voice. "The good archbishop here said even though I knew you, you were one of his." That voice belonged to Commander (Rabbi) Blackman, who taught a history course that the soldier took his last semester at LSU.

The story of how the two clergymen found themselves back in uniform was a source of much amusement in the New Orleans area and throughout Gulf States Command as they went around ministering to both their military and civilian flocks. Archbishop Hannan ended up in charge of the Catholic Church not only in Louisiana, but in Mississippi and southeast Texas. Rabbi Blackman ministered to small Jewish congregations in a couple of places in Mississippi where Jews outnumbered Catholics (and were totally outnumbered by Baptists). Some of the "high-water" Baptist ministers who became State Guard chaplains suffered some culture shock when they found themselves working for an Archbishop and a Rabbi.

When they had the chance to work together, their good-natured grumbling was a source of laughter and good cheer to all they met so they told the story of how they ended up back in uniform. The soldier laughed with them as they found themselves caught up in the wheels of a military bureaucracy that didn't care how old they were or what their jobs were, they were still somewhere on the reserve rolls.

As they talked, students of human nature that good clergymen are, they determined two things: the soldier would have a rough time for a while, but he'd find his way; although it would have been nice if the green-eyed girl was a couple of years older, she was interested in the soldier.

The soldier's mother came back and said everything was set at West Jefferson. His father said that he had to be at Harvey in the morning to meet up with the boat. As they were about to go their separate ways, the soldier's mother invited the green-eyed girl and her mother over for dinner tomorrow evening. She was making a shrimp gumbo for her wayward son. The women glanced at each other in a way that the soldier and his father never noticed, but both mothers signaled their approval and the green-eyed girl said they'd be glad to come.

The green-eyed girl never found out that a couple of phone calls were made later that evening. Although everyone liked her and wanted to hire her anyway, the word from up high was to make sure she got a job at West Jefferson.

​

 

[Dan]

I like this.
As much as the original P&S was massively dystopic, this one already has much of the same feel about it as Jericho, (we survived but due to luck and good planning).
I'm kinda looking forward to a comparative tale describing what's happened in Texas.

 

[Archangel]

Keep it up, vl100butch!

 

[vl100butch]

Professionals study logistics-part 2
January 1984

What became the J-4 (Logistics) of US Gulf States Command began as a logistics planning group in New Orleans, simply because the Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and Louisiana National Guard had headquarters there. A group from Mississippi joined them and by mid-month a liaison team from Alabama showed up as well.

By early January, individual small arms and ammunition were in place at the county/parish level in both states. Alabama was a latecomer to the process but in the counties that bordered Mississippi, small arms were being distributed to emergency planners and state guard cadre.

The issue became, what else did they need? What heavy weapons should they get, and could they get them and the ammunition as well. The first consensus from all was that you couldn't have too many .50 caliber machine guns. Armored vehicles came next, no one thought that they'd fighting the fifth echelon along the banks of the Mississippi River, but having a couple of dozen light tanks and armored personnel carriers would be useful.

Lightweight, mobile firepower is what the planners focused on and of course the old soldiers, sailors, and marines who knew where all the bodies were buried came through. Several dozen jeep mounted 106mm recoilless rifles were found in depot. Some of them were still on the old M-38 jeep, which was largely phased out in the 1970's. A large quantity of old 60mm mortars and ammo was located. Then, a couple of thousand M-79 grenade launchers were found and shipped to Anniston Army Depot.

Everyone agreed that getting the M-79s distributed was high priority so a joint team headed up to Annistion to get them. While there, they explained what they were looking for and they were shown some towed quad .50 machine gun mounts, some Walker Bulldog tanks that were supposed to be prepared for a Military Assistance action, and some M-42 Dusters that had recently been returned from West Germany. When asked about getting the machine guns for the mounts, their guide laughed and said that thousands were stored at the Depot. The Coast Guard Chief Gunner's Mate asked about ammunition for the Duster. He was told that all the ammo he'd ever seen for that system was Navy ammo.

You could almost hear the gears turning in the thought process as the group looked at each other. "We need to come get this stuff." The biggest worry was 76mm for the Walker Bulldogs, but the ammo people thought they could find some.


​

 

[vl100butch]

We may be stuck in a salt mine, but we're going to eat well
January 1984

While the group in New Orleans worked on weapons and equipment, BrigGen McIlhenny and a group at Avery Island started to look at what it would take to provide food after a nuclear exchange. Both states could feed themselves easily under normal circumstances and the group started to look at reserves and how long they would last. The Agriculture Schools at LSU and Mississippi State were contacted and asked to ensure that seed reserves were placed at all their extension service offices statewide.

Food stocks at Avery Island were built up and stored in the salt mine as well as all the other salt mines and appropriate places in Mississippi. Considering the circles that BrigGen McIlhenny moved in, it should have been expected that Paul Prudhomme would show up to experiment with recipes for the "Hurricane Rations". The military personnel and their families on the Island knew that nowhere else would they be eating as well.

The suggestion that alligator meat be added to the ration pack was pushed by the Landry family from Pierre Part. Alligator didn't make the final cut, but as a prank Al Baumer had a couple of hundred cans of Alligator Sauce Piquante made up and sent to Avery Island.

The initial "Hurricane Rations" were a work in progress at the time of the exchange, however they were available and were rapidly distributed.
​

 

[vl100butch]

Author plot break:

trying to get my arms around mobilization...

either partial (2 million for 2 years) or full mobilization (everyone for the duration) was declared, my gut feel was partial sometime in mid-January and full after the shooting started...

does anyone have a handle on this?

when were the roundout brigades called up?

the 42d Division was second or third tier as far as callups are concerned and they were mobilized on 11 February to deploy to Ft Campbell...the process was far enough along where Individual Ready Reserve callups were starting...

from what I can figure...

REFORGER was successfully executed so V Corps and VII Corps were at full war strength....III Corps was probably on the ground up north built around 2AD (Forward)

Additional forces were on the ground in Europe as well such as the Marine Division mentioned in Chipperback's story.....

 

[vl100butch]

The Jesuit and the Gunny
January, 1984

Jesuit High School in New Orleans has the distinction of having the first Marine Corps JROTC unit in the United States, established in 1967. In the early years of the program, it was mandatory for all students so one could imagine the mixture of discipline handled by Jesuit priests and Marines.

As 1983 ended, the instructor cadre kept running into old friends who "just happened to be in New Orleans", the back channels communications started to buzz. The fact that Brig Gen McIlhenny was a big supporter of Marine JROTC was very well known and word filtered back that Avery Island would house the cadets of Jesuit if things got bad.

This led to a meeting between the instructors and the principal of the school to devise a "bug out" plan to evacuate the cadets and as much of the school as possible. The second part of the meeting dealt with what survival skills would the instructors be allowed to teach outside of the JROTC curriculum. First Aid and basic NBC survival were added to the curriculum.
​

 

[vl100butch]

Old Friends
November 6, 1985

The soldier slept in the next morning until he heard his mother call what he wanted for breakfast. She asked him what kind of eggs he wanted and he asked his mother for scrambled eggs, grits, and bacon.

He made his way downstairs wearing an old ARMY physical fitness uniform t-shirt and sat at his traditional spot at the kitchen table. His mother sat his plate in front of him and sat down next to his father to have a cup of coffee.

"Jimmy, I have to be at the Harvey Terminal by 1, can you drive me?" asked his father.

"Sure Daddy, is anyone I know still working there?" replied the soldier. The soldier spent a good part of his childhood with his father doing odd stuff at the Freeport Sulphur Harvey Terminal and all of the older men knew him. His father answered that a couple of the older men were still working there.

The soldier asked his parents about his brother and sisters. He was pleased to find out that his brother was able to get a job in the reborn Freeport Marine Department on one of the tugs and would be off in a couple of days. His youngest sister had recently gotten married, however the older of the two sisters was in Houston and presumed dead.

He told his parents from what information he was able to learn on his journey home, that Houston and Dallas had been hit extremely hard by several warheads and that it would take many years for those cities to recover. Coming from families who had been in New Orleans for several generations and being Saints fans as well, they all had a bit of dislike for Texas and Texans in general, but were saddened by the destruction of both places.

"Well, what's Bourbon Street going to do without your 'i don't drink, i don't dance, i don't smoke' Texan showing up and in about 10 minutes he's second-lining with a cigar in his mouth, a hurricane in one hand, and his other arm around a hooker?" asked the soldier with a chuckle.

His parents laughed and said that as far as they knew Bourbon Street was still there. His mother then told the soldier after he dropped his father off, his grandmothers and Aunt Jill (his godmother) were expecting him to stop by. Then she told him that he was to pick up the green-eyed girl and her mother at his uncle's office at West Jefferson Hospital.

The soldier and his father headed up LA Highway 23 over the Intracoastal Canal Bridge, when they were on the bridge the soldier asked if his father minded if they took Engineers Road over to Peters Road. His father agreed and as they drove the roads that were alongside the Intracoastal and Harvey Canals the solider noticed that there was a lot of construction going on. They got to the terminal and saw that the T.E. Lyons was tied up with loading process still underway.

"Quad .50 on the stern and a 20mm on the bow, that's different," said the soldier.

"Yep," answered his father. "We have a couple of Army and Navy people on board to shoot them, haven't had to use them yet except to practice."

"You ever get back on the quad .50, or did you not tell them that you were in an anti-aircraft unit?" asked the soldier, knowing his father didn't talk a lot about his service at the end of World War 2.

"Well you remember me telling you about the first day I got there and as soon as I got off the truck, everything opened up at this strange airplane,"
answered his father. "There was a Plaisance from Louisiana in the battery and he explained to me what a jet was. Well, that Plaisance signed up with the State Guard and he was part of the crew that installed the guns."

The soldier started laughing and asked what happened.

"Well, ole Plaisance said that he kept me out of trouble in 1945 and if he had to serve anywhere, he rather be with someone he knew." answered his father. "There's a Navy gunner's mate for the 20mm and a couple of young guys that they keep busy painting the boat when they're not learning how to shoot and work on a boat. We're running with two crews now because of the extra manning."

They pulled up to a parking spot next to the old tin warehouse and walked in. The first thing the soldier noticed was the sign that showed how many days they had worked without a lost time accident. The total was now over 3000 days. The soldier and his father looked at each other and laughed.

"They won't even let a nuclear war stop them, will they?" asked the soldier.

His father's answer was interupted by a loud shout, "JIMMY!"

Leroy Boudreaux, the foreman at the terminal and an old friend of his father came up and hugged the soldier.

"Mr. Leroy, it's really good to see you, you doing alright?" asked the soldier.

"We're alright, staying busy," answered Mr. Leroy. "You need to get your daddy onto the boat quick though, he's got to get some stuff down to Garden Island Bay this evening, they had a breakdown that needs to be fixed."

So the soldier took his father's bag and went on board the Lyons. He got to meet Sergeant Plaisance and the rest of the crew on the boat. His father reminded him to go see his grandmothers and Aunt Jill. And, don't forget to pick up that little green-eyed girl and her mother at the hospital.

The soldier watched the Lyons cast off and head toward the Harvey Canal lock and the Mississippi River. He got into the pickup truck and headed off to visit his family members.
​

 

[vl100butch]

author's note....real life has popped up with a couple of things

I'm going to work on the story of the soldier (which come to find out is a lot easier for me to write) and some of the WWL radio broadcasts

some of the back spaces will be filled in by the story of the soldier, but the WWL broadcasts will hopefully show that even the worst conditions, people can laugh....

 

[vl100butch]

You'll never know where you will find a hero
November 6, 1985

The soldier visited his grandmothers and his Aunt Jill. She gave him directions to her brother's office at West Jefferson Hospital which was a couple of blocks away from her house on Barataria Blvd.

"Where you at, Uncle?" said the soldier to his uncle as he entered the office.

"Well, hello Captain. Good to see you alive and in one piece," answered his uncle.

The soldier looked at the green-eyed girl and asked, "Well?"

"I got the job, your uncle will talk to a friend of his about a place to live," answered the green-eyed girl.

"Good, how soon do you start?" asked the soldier.

"I start on Monday, my daddy will bring some things down for me, while Mama and I get sorted out." she answered.

His uncle broke into the conversation, "Jimmy, your mother called and you need to stop over at Mr. Thieu's bakery over on Lapalco by the Picadilly to pick up some french bread."

The soldier rolled his eyes and said, "OK, Unc tell Mama that we'll be at the house as soon as we pick up the bread."

So three people got in the pickup. The green-eyed girl and her mother noticed the soldier's grimace as he climbed in. They asked about the name Thieu and the soldier told them that a lot of Vietnamese refugees settled in the New Orleans area because the climate and was a heavily Catholic former French colony. They started a lot of small businesses and one that caught on quickly was the neighborhood bakery.

As they entered the bakery, the soldier noticed several things on the walls: a guidon which started life as a South Vietnamese flag, above the stripes was "LA", below the stripes was "WVM"; three medal certificates, a Silver Star to Captain N. Thieu, Westbank Vietnamese Mortars for actions during reestablishment of the railroad link from Beaumont to College Station, Texas in July 1984, the second was for a Purple Heart to Cadet James V. Thieu, Jesuit High School Marine Corps Junior ROTC in July 1984; the third was for a Presidential Unit Citation for the Westbank Vietnamese Mortars, Louisiana State Guard, during their period of Federal Service during the summer of 1984.

The soldier told the young woman at the counter that his mother had ordered some french bread, she asked his name and the soldier replied "Kerner"

The young woman called out to the back in Vietnamese and then asked the soldier, "Are you Jimmy?"

The soldier was a little embarrassed, but simply answered "Yes".

A man of somewhat indeterminate age came out with a large bag of pistolettes (a french bread loaf about a foot long that makes a wonderful sandwich among other things).

"You tell your Mama that these are on me, this is for you," said the man.

"Mr. Thieu, I can't do that," answered the soldier.

"Yes you will, or I will pull rank on you, understood?" asked the man.

The soldier was taken a bit aback, but then answered "Yes Sir, but I will buy these two ladies whatever they want."

As the green-eyed girl and her mother looked around and picked out what they wanted, Mr. Thieu pulled the soldier aside and told him, "When you ready to talk, you come see me."

The soldier simply answered, "I will." He instinctively knew that Mr. Thieu had fought some of the same demons that he had lived with since the shooting stopped in Europe.

The soldier paid for the pastries that the green-eyed girl and her mother bought, left the bakery and headed to Belle Chasse and a big pot of gumbo.
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