***Date unknown***

Wade Gajan:

-Getting drafted. Dying like flies? Aspirin and ice (freeze them to bring the fever down). Keeping him here. Trying to make soldiers comfortable. Camp Beauregard;
-Born in New Iberia in 1895;
-High school education by the time the war broke out. Father farmed plantations, making money. Sold it three times and ended up back with it three times. 500 acres;
-Going to Schriever, where his father died (of diabetes), with sugar mill (3 plantations combined). Milled by hand. Coming to see his wife by train. Nurse stayed with him, high fever of almost 104 degrees. Dr. Burken? Father was dying fast. He was not married yet;
-Mother wanted to sell the plantation. When the first world war started. $100,000 owed another hundred thousand. Just a giveaway when his father bought it;
-Coming back to New Iberia. She came live with him and his wife. Moving to his grandmother's who had just died a half a block from the Catholic church in New Iberia. She died at 98 years old;
-President Wilson? When he got out, he wanted to forget it all. It made such an impression on him and never left him;
-Drafted, Camp Beauregard. Enlisting in the army there and staying. People at the hospital didn't want him to leave, kept him until the war was over. Whistling the morning the war was over.
-Staying 2 months after the war before going home;
-Camp Beauregard only had people that got sick (fever) while they were there. Deadly. No medicine, but aspirin;
-Out in tents on the ground/wooden floor, mud on the street. Snow wold tear the tents. Stove pipes, getting wood to burn. He gets chills just thinking about it;

-He believes in destiny. Dying when you're supposed to (10:01);
-Tents coming down. It snowed that year;
-Drilling/boot camp. Boys off the farm not used to it. Boys from their homes/offices (city);
-Bad enough to go to war. The life they took going into the war. Getting on the fighting line. Soldiers taking care of soldiers;
-Not knowing what the war was about, why they were fighting. Not knowing about the Germans. So much work over here, caring for the dying;
-Speaking Creole, he understands French. Country boys. People in charge didn't know what soldiers were saying. Serving as an interpreter;
-Some just cried like babies, because of the language barrier. Hanging around Wade because he could interpret;
-Private, even in the hospital;
-Food was alright. Either ate or went without. Yankee cooks, white gravy. Not Cajun. Hard time in those days;
-First time away from home. 18-20 years old when he joined the army. 6 months to save his crop before entering the service;
-Sugarcane crop. Used to have 3-4 tenants. Current tenant does 3 rows at a time. Tractor vs. mules. Keeping his old tools and showing people;
-Getting discharged. They kept him there, then came home. Paid his trip home and a few extra dollars;
-Economy had changed a little. Father wasn't a drunkard. 2-3 bars in New Iberia. Treating his friends, giving people what they wanted. Spent $200-300 on drinks. Spending the money to get him -back home, money was nothing to him. He knew his son (Wade) was coming back;

-Returning to farming when he came back. Keeping his horses and mules (20:16);
-People wanting to learn how to ride horses. A lady from Texas who wanted to ride horses. Check rein. Telling her to sit up straight, holding the saddle horn. Taking the line off, trotting. She wasn't scare. Coming tomorrow and going in the back of the field. Getting on her horse and leaving the others behind;
-Daughter got the same way, saddles still there, but the leather's all rotten. He had one daughter;
-Business people of New Iberia were still there when he came back. Some people couldn't pass and join the army. People from the country as well as the city;
-Father hid his emotions, his mother lost weight;
-Some didn't go back to work, not too much work before the war. Men from France whipped, having seen terrible things, not wanting to talk about it;
-Using gas to an extent;
-Soldiers came back and shocked to see how much things cost, things were cheap when they left. Inflation;
-Those that stayed behind couldn't go to war, but could stay and do work;
-Hard time for soldiers to get jobs when they cam back. Doing without them while at war, no need for them when they came back. Wade's job (farming) was waiting for him when he got back;
-Relatives were doctors and lawyers. Only had one sister. Some didn't like farming;
-Kramer (mother's father) raced horses. Loreauville, renting horse and buggy. Sample suitcases. Memory of his grandfather sitting with his cane. Washing the mud off, because it would freeze the hair off the horse's legs. Abbeville;
-Feeling lonesome for the past. People dying for others. Jacquemoud funeral home (in New Iberia) , coffin. They had nothing?;
-Getting married. Mother and daughter would give food? Good mother and wife. Wife was one of 11 children, who all had an education and taught school. Her father was a contractor, boys worked with him building. White brick on main street;

-Seeing a lot of changes over the years (31:47);
-A lot of things come back whenever you start talking about something;
-A lot of men didn't know what rifles were, much less having shot them;
-Inspection, handling those rifles rough. Every (two) weeks. Giving the Captain the rifle the proper way. Dirty screws;
-Not learning how to shoot canons. Only using rifles, bayonets stayed on the gun even though they were scared someone would get hurt from it;
-Dying thinking about you;
-Most farm boys didn't know what a line was, uniforms, barely spoke English (Cajun French). Different phrases in Creole/French;

Lionel Bourque:

-He volunteered. The limit was 21 years old, not 18 like it is today. Wanting to join with friends (? and Labbé, a lawyer in Lafayette and his brother James);
-St. Charles College, Catholic University. Accepting people who wanted to join the service, unit there. Grand Coteau;
-Being a high school graduate in order to be an officer. 30% students sick with dengue fever (like a flu);
-Joining at USL around August. 60 days after the dengue epidemic hit them. Permit from Dr. Stevens to go home. Staying 60 days. Released, $300, no more claims on Uncle Sam;
-Good time, entertainment in Lafayette. He was going to get shipped to France in 60 days;
-Not wanting to be drafted, he wanted to volunteer (better for him). Better chance of getting promoted. Never got a chance to do so. He didn't care either;
-Commercial college in Texas. Friend over there, French trenches, torture to carry 65-70 lbs through mud in the trenches;

-Mr. Stemmon? and Lionel working for Southern Pacific Railroad. Germans were the best people because the French people didn't treat him as well as he wanted to. German family treated him the best. He was a German. maybe that's why he loved it over there (41:10);
-Relieving the French and English. President Wilson declared war;
-Dan Olivier Chevrolet? Company, cousin who worked there was an interpreter in the war. Stories about the French people. He was on guard duty one night, Lionel then stops himself for sake of what actually happened. Funny stories while in France. With officers strictly, serving as an interpreter. Behind the line, not seeing much warfare;
-After he was put as guard duty one night, place to use the restroom. Seeing if it was a man or woman in there. Halting a lady in stall;
-He spoke French. French speakers used by the officers as interpreters in France. Good job, not seeing any warfare. Dan (cousin) married a Buchanan from Lafayette and is still living;
-Not a lot of WWI veterans still living. Mr. Gajan a draftee staying at Camp Beauregard;
-Father from Cade farmed sugarcane on 80-90 acres. Only time he'd get a little money, when he'd sell it. One year, his crop didn't get 2 feet tall, he couldn't even bring it to the Billeaud mill;
-Leaving school to help his father farm;
-High school education. Commercial school in Tyler, TX after the war. Father couldn't afford to send anyone to school. Borrowing money himself from the bank. He learned bookkeeping, telegraphy, (train) station knowledge;
-Everyone wanted to be an engineer or work for the railroad, best jobs around at the time. $150/month. White-collar job made $75-80 or even less a month. 2-3 jobs, west Texas. Job in Lake

Charles, Vinton:
-Born about 10 miles from Cade, a little beyond Cade. 90 acres of farmland (50:07);
-He moved to New Iberia when he was 21 yrs old. He was in Texas for a couple of years. Coming back, never going back to Cade. Sold the farm 10-15 years ago. $10,000. Father got killed by the train, getting rid of the old farm after that. Moving back here in 1921, at 24 yrs old;
-Getting married. She was teaching school. Together 60 years. Compatible. Both like plants, seeds from all over the country. 75 cents for camellia seeds. One of the best collections of camellias, some from all over the country/Europe;
-Mr. Eloi Gerard. Oil Center is now, state senator for one term. Going around the country visiting gardens. Corsages. Shipping camellias, wholesalers in Chicago. Hobby for him;
-Getting back from Lafayette. Only two that he knew from New Iberia? Hard to travel, all gravel and brick road. Going to Lafayette in 30 minutes;
-Going back on the farm for a little while, but not for long. Going to the college in Texas, not seeing many who had come back from war. He'd really only see Claude;
-Stemmon. Rainbow division, tough. He? never stopped talking. Died 4-5 years ago;
-Few WWI veterans left;
-Living for so long;
-Volunteering for the service would be better than getting drafting. Potential of serving as an interpreter. He though 90% would've known French, only about 25% actually did;
-Not knowing much about Europe other than what he learned in school;
-Dark ages;
-Trains, automobiles traveled on dirt and gravel roads. No trains. Should do like Japanese and Europeans and use trains. U.S. jamming highways;

-Communist revolution, little interest in the Bolsheviks/Russian. Not as much interest as was in WWII (01:00:06);
-President Regan? Russians trustworthy?;
-Was cut off, not lost. Raised on a farm, 25 acres here. Old gardener who makes a garden for him. Came back with $7-8. During the Depression. Before he built where he lives now;
-Weeks and Weeks (lawyers), going after he lost his job on the railroad. Banks are all closed, can't have your money. Saving him from paying rent. Getting in touch with Mr. Hetch?, the man in charge. He finally got his money, but was asked not to broadcast it. $3,000;
-No work in 6 months, family was starving.$1 a day, one the best mechanics in town. $150 to build his home, with second-hand lumber;
-Saw mill in Patterson, Williams Lumber Co. Cypress. The mill went bankrupt, sold all homes out there. Mayor Joe Daigle, getting lumber for pretty cheap. $175 for an old two-story home 75' long, all cypress except for the floors. Camped in the building with 2 other men. 8-10 cans of nails;
-$3 more to bring the lumber to Cade? Piano, sold 75-80 oak chairs for 75 cents to $1 a piece. Bargain. It looked like a lumber yard here on his property;
-Gravel road. Gajan family. Huey Long, paving the road. Trying to get land vis-à-vis to the pavement. Headquarters in New Orleans, negotiating via telegraph. 15 acres at $100/acre. He preferably wanted the high spot. He could buy the rest of the 60 acres for $4,000, but he didn't have the money;
-Old 80-85 yr old man living in the back. He bought the most wonderful spot. Indians used to tie their canoes right there when Spanish Lake would rise. He inherited that land from his father.
-Darby Land Co.;
-Weeks and Weeks came after and wanted to write a book about the historical significance of his land. The old man died in transit in Japan before he could write the story;
-The old Darby home, someone set fire to 4-5 years ago. Developing Squirrel Run. If only he had the money to buy the rest of the property. Youth don't know what their generation had to go through;

-Colored men, you could trust people back then, black and white (01:10:32);
-Developing the property. Engineer in Lafayette. Asking Lionel to divide the street. Brother-in-law from Lafayette (Chastant) urged him not the break up the road, part of the Old Spanish Trail.
-Changed his mind, paved the road. Cost a lot of money;
-Railroad companies took care of their employees. Not starving, making money. Lake Charles, Schriever, New Orleans. Not giving up the job. Raising livestock and a garden, he had food;
-Not a lot of money during the Depresson. Farmers didn't hurt too much, they could still eat. Kids in the offices hurt/couldn't do anything;
-Lionel stayed on the farm too long. Valuable during the Depression;
-Agricultural depression after WWI. Everything was high, no one had any money. Economy was out of balance. Some suffering;
-President Roosevelt in 1933. Federal jobs. Elevation, 32' above sea level here;
-Flood of 1927. 10' of water. 4 railroads were there (Southern Pacific, Missouri Pacific, Texas Pacific, and Santa Fe). No train could stop him?. Passing through water to go to his bed. 3' of water in the streets;
-The levee broke or there was no levee. Small levee before. It shouldn't happen again. Flood of 1940 wasn't too bad, worse west of Lafayette (rain flood);
-This past summer, something terrific;
-Only 8' above sea level above the dip. Lafayette higher;
-Spanish Lake, indians would anchor boats here. Finding arrowheads and giving them to Nelson, teacher at USL;
-He learned to really speak English well at age 8-10/15 yrs old, heard some conversation before. Learning English in school. They didn't want kids to speak French in school;
-His first teacher asked him to stay after school. She washed his mouth because he said a dirty word. Parents were in accord with that;
-When his wife was teaching school, a kid was cursing. Learning from his father who curses his mother out;
-Grandfather planting chéroquis to stop mules from going. From France. Going rabbit hunting in the briars. He shot his first rabbit. Plenty around Youngsville. Chéroquis planted as fence lines. -40' all the way down;
-Growing in a straight line, planted?;
-Dr. Chastant bought the old farm. 36-40 acres;

Wade Gajan (New Iberia, 1895) & Lionel Bourque (1898)