Jack Broussard, Jason Theriot, Hewitt Theriot:

-Went into the service in September 1942
-Pearl Harbor day was on a Sunday and Broussard was driving to the movies; he was surprised, never kept up with the news being he was 18
-Tried to enlist into the Navy Air Corp, wanted to be a pilot, but he was colorblind so they put him in the regular Navy
-Boot camp in San Diego, got there by train and after boot camp went into the Corp school for medical training for another 6 weeks
-Was allowed to pick his station so he chose Seattle, Washington at the Navy hospital for a year; ironically gave colorblind tests

-Eventually transferred to a troop transport that went out to the Aleutian Islands and stayed on the ship for a year
-It was a Merchant Marine ship, “SS Henry Failing”; went out for 30 days between Washington and the islands; it was a big ship
-Main destinations were Adak and Attu; did stop at Kodiak a few times
-The Japanese were already gone by the time Broussard was there (1943); on one island they were 750 miles away from Japan
-Rough water (Pacific) that would rock the ship
-Ship was run by the Merchant Marines so the food was good; 4-5 men to a stateroom

(14:33) story of a mental patient he had to take care of on the ship

(17:36) treated for different diseases and minor injuries
-There were no war injuries there

-Adak was a big base that had a movie theater that they used when in port
-Never was in contact with the locals there
-Got their mail when coming back to the states; Broussard’s mother wrote every day to him

(18:24) talking on various subjects
-The islands
-Living conditions and weather on the ship
-The food and mess hall
-Lower you went the more bunks stacked up and rocking from the ship
-So cold and rough waters
-Tokyo Rose, the only station they could pick up, played good music
-Swapping stories between Broussard and H. Theriot
-How the war is portrayed today

(44:00) the end of the war
-After being on the ship for a year went back to Seattle for another year, 1945
-Got out in March of 1946; discharged in Seattle and stayed for a few months with another medic’s family he gotten close to, before coming home
-Came home by train and visited with the family
-Went to work at a bank after the visit and met his wife there
-His family understood why he left for the war
-Recounting how he got home in detail
-Talking on other subjects of New Iberia and family, living in Seattle, the ship

Transcription Begins:

I was then transferred on to a troop transport that ran out to the Aleutian Islands. We were carrying the Seabee's. It was a Merchant Marine ship-SS Henry Failing. We'd go out for 30 days at a time, back and forth from Washington to the Islands. I was on that ship for about a year.

On the ship there was a doctor and five-Corpsman, all Navy. I was one of the Corpsman. Our main destination was Adak and Attu, but we made stops at Kodiak. The islands were secure from the Japs by then in '43, but there were submarines in the area. At one point we were only 750 miles from Japan. That was a concern, but we were so young at the time, you don't worry too much about those things.

The ship was run by the Merchant Marine for the Navy. There were four or five of us to a stateroom, and we ate pretty well. The sea's (North Pacific) were really rough. That's the roughest waters' in the world. And it was real cold up there, a lot of snow. We stayed on the ship most of the time, but we would go onto the island. The main island, Adak, had a huge base there, and we'd go and watch the movie pictures.

We would listen to Tokyo Rose quite a bit; she played great American music. That was the only thing we could get on the radio. Her purpose was to make us homesick. She had a sweet voice and she played all the good music for us servicemen.

We took care of the sick men from the islands. We had an operating table and a Dr.'s office, and a small medical ward on board where we worked.

I had become friendly with a family in Marysville, Washington, and I became close to them. I would visit them when we came back to port. I'd get my mail when I came back to port. My mother would write to me everyday.

I was discharged in Seattle and I stayed there with this family for a few months then I came home in March of 1946. I stayed friendly with this family all these years and I still correspond with one of their daughters, all of the others have passed away.