Episodes
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
Episode 14: Cajun Commandoes of Operational Group PEG
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
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.
Friday Oct 06, 2023
Episode 13: Frenchie of VII Corps HQ, Ned Arceneaux
Friday Oct 06, 2023
Friday Oct 06, 2023
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.
Wednesday May 24, 2023
Episode 12: Orleans Pitre, Cajun of OSS
Wednesday May 24, 2023
Wednesday May 24, 2023
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.
Monday Feb 27, 2023
Episode 11: French Acadians in WWII
Monday Feb 27, 2023
Monday Feb 27, 2023
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
Wednesday Jan 11, 2023
Episode 10: Cajun Ace—the Jeff DeBlanc Story
Wednesday Jan 11, 2023
Wednesday Jan 11, 2023
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.
Monday Oct 03, 2022
Episode 9: Pointe-au-Chien to Paris (and back)
Monday Oct 03, 2022
Monday Oct 03, 2022
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.
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Episode 8: Frenchie in Gen. Eisenhower’s Headquarters
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
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
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Episode 7: Cajun-Acadiana WWII Commemoration
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
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
Friday Apr 15, 2022
Episode 6: Cajun National Guard (Part II)
Friday Apr 15, 2022
Friday Apr 15, 2022
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.
Saturday Jan 22, 2022
Episode 5: Cajun National Guard (Part I)
Saturday Jan 22, 2022
Saturday Jan 22, 2022
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.