Rene Broussard, Jason Theriot:

-Joined the U.S. Navy on June 1, 1942; went to Great Lake, Illinois for basic training
-By July he was on the way to New York to board a Destroyer, “USS Jenkins”
-Patrolled the Atlantic coast for submarines from December to October
-Made contact with one submarine off the coast of Cuba
-Escorted 500 ships on the invasion of Casablanca, North Africa from October 26th to November 8th 1942
-On the 7th (day before) a submarine fired a torpedo at Broussard’s ship and missed them by 6 feet
-Gives dates and places/battles he was at in a timeline; battle stars he’s earned

(6:40) Sailed on two ships: “USS Jenkins” a destroyer and “USS Sitkoh Bay” an aircraft carrier
-Was a water pump tender in the engine room and worked on the boilers on “Jenkins”
-Made fresh water from sea water as a water tender on “Sitkoh Bay”
-Had 365 men on each ship

(9:44) Joining the Navy/Battle of Casablanca
-Had some friends that didn’t want to go into the army so he tagged along
-Went to New Orleans to sign up and while there the Navy supported them
-Initiated on June 1, 1942 and was on training for 6 weeks; kept a record of everything (is reading from it)

-Casablanca was the first real big push against the Germans in the beginning of the war
-General Rommel was taking parts of North Africa and going for the rest
-Europeans didn’t want that but the British were in Libya so America was asked to go in and help
-Escorted 500 ships to the battle; led as lead Destroyer for 21 destroyers, which is why they saw the torpedo being directed to them and were able to evade it in time

-The French in Africa were with the Germans and Italians at the time; were shooting guns that had been left there from World War I (1918)
-One shell did hit a cruiser and it went through the sleeping quarters and into the kitchen but never went off—might have been a dud

-Coming in within 7,000 yards of the beach the Germans started firing and did some damage to them then
-They had been shooting at them since 7:00 that morning and by 1:00 the Germans stopped
-Came to find out a battleship, “USS Massachusetts,” shot 3 shells into the radar control and shut the German artillery down

(15:50) Worked in the general quarters as a doctor
-Once in the Pacific was stationed on a .20 mm machine gun for general quarters
-“Jenkins” took part in the Battle of Guadalcanal, all the battles in the Southern Solomon Islands and Tarawa
-Fought every night with the Japanese; they were good
-Had to keep secret on how many ships they were sinking or damaging; no pictures to be taken
-After leaving “USS Jenkins” it hit a mine but did not sink and continued to be used till 1969 when it was scraped
-Not many destroyers went undamaged when in the Pacific

(22:00) Picked up a Marine pilot who had ditched his airplane in the ocean; had been about 10,000 feet when he had engine trouble
-He came down and crash-landed his plane right in Broussard’s ship wake; he jumped out and they rescued him
-The pilot was Jeff Deblanc from St. Martinsville

(24:07) Stories
-Patrolling off the East Coast of Guadalcanal one night and they could hear a loud plane above them (Washing Machine Charley) almost hit the ship; must have been lost in the dark
-Walter McHellhenny was a Lt. in the Marines and they met while Broussard was working at Avery Island
-He was in the Pacific; got into trouble a bit with those higher in command

(31:15) A Japanese Colonel came running at McHellhenny with a sword and it took a while for them to kill him as his clothes were too thick for bullets to pierce
-McHellhenny caught malaria and was sent to hospital in Australia

(35:40) Pearl Harbor Day
-Working as a landscaper at Avery Island when they heard; knew nothing about it or where it was
-While in school they would listen to the radio and hear what Hitler was doing and when he was invading the countries in Europe
-Did come to understanding that the attack on Pearl Harbor meant war
-Tried to get into the Marines but was too tall (6’ 6’’) and almost was too tall to get into the Navy
-Still grew 2 more inches after that and his clothes were too short

-Talking about the American Legion, VFW and family

(43:06) Coming back to the states
-Came back in 1945 and went back to school in Pennsylvania
-Was able to come back as he had enough points

-Knew that eventually if the war was ever to be over the Japanese needed to be defeated
-Wouldn’t have stopped if the bombs weren’t dropped
-At the time Broussard had no idea what “atomic” meant and how much damage it was capable of

-Talking of night and naval maneuvers of the U.S. and Japanese; certain battles
-Training he went through
-Always at sea, only got off twice to an island to gather supplies
-Family history from Canada
-Involvement with the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars)

Transcription Begins:

Rene J. Broussard
Born: July 30, 1921
Iberia Parish
USS Jenkins/USS Sitkoh Bay- Engine room

When I was going to school at the old New Iberia High, Hitler was invading all those countries in Europe. We had a radio in the office and speakers in the classrooms. They would let us hear what Hitler was doing. They would let us listen in to the transmission for a lesson and we would have to answer question and write them done, like an assignment.

When the Japs attacked Pearl Harbor I was working on Avery Island and when I heard about it I didn't know what Pearl Harbor was. I had never heard of it before. I didn't know what it meant at the time. Sometime after that the Army would send me questionnaires. I filled out a few and sent them back, but I didn't what to join the Army, and the Marines wouldn't take me because I was too tall-6'6''. So I joined the Navy.

A friend of mine and I went to New Orleans in May to join the Navy. We stayed in New Orleans for a whole week while the Navy supported us. We were initiated on June 1, 1942. They put us on the Illinois Central and they sent us to the Great Lakes. I had my training there for six weeks. After training I was sent to Brooklyn, New York and assigned to a Destroyer.

The first ship I was on was the USS Jenkins. It was a Destroyer. It was a brand new ship; it had no battle scares. I worked in the engine room as a water-pump tender. It was a steam engine, so I took care of the boilers. It had 6,000 HP with twelve-foot props. We had 365 men on board.

We patrolled off the Atlantic coast for a couple months. We were patrolling for German submarines. We made contact one time with a sub off the coast of Cuba.

In 1942 the Germans, under General Rommel, took parts of North Africa and the Europeans didn't like that. He was going to take all of Africa, but the Americans stepped in to help. This was our first big campaign. The British were out there fighting in Libya. But in Casablanca on the west, the Germans had taken all of that. If they had taken all of Africa that would have cause some serious problems. So we went over there to help out the Europeans.

From October 26th to November 8th we escorted 500 ships on the invasion of Casablanca in North Africa. We were chosen as the lead destroyer for this mission. On November 7th, while crossing the Atlantic, a German submarine fired a torpedo at our ship and missed us by about six feet. We saw it coming in time, and our Captain was able to take evasive action to avoid it.

The Germans were having much success with the submarine warfare before America got involved in the war. They were all over the Atlantic. We started using the B-25 bombers to find and sink those German submarines. When we made the invasion of North Africa, Hitler told his U-boat Captains to get the hell out of our way, because we could have sunk a bunch of them.

When we landed on Casablanca the French were shooting at us. See the French in North Africa were with the Germans then. The French were shooting at us with American guns that were left behind in France after WWI in 1918. They had one shell that hit a cruiser and the detonator fell off. It went through the sleeping quarters and stopped in the kitchen. They looked on the shell and it read- "USA-1918." The shell fell apart. It might have been a dud, cause it didn't go off.

We came within 7,000 yards of the beach and the German coastal artillery started firing at us. We had a flag on top of our ship with a V for Victory and a 14-inch shell went right through it. The German guns did do some damage to our ships out there.

The Germans had been shooting at us since 7 o'clock that morning, and then around 1 o'clock that afternoon everything stopped. The big USS Massachuttses Battleship sent three shells at the enemy radar control and it shut everything down. Their artillery was useless after that.

We had a lot of guns on our ship. At general quarters I was stationed with the doctor, because I was trained in first aid. Later on when we hit the Pacific theatre I was stationed on a .20 mm machine gun for general quarters.

We returned to the states after the North African invasion and in December 1942 we were send to the South Pacific.

The Jenkins took part in the Battle of Guadalcanal, all of the battles of the Southern Solomon Islands, and Tarawa. We saw some serious naval battles over in the Pacific. We fought every night in the "Slot." The Japs were good. They were good fighters at night.

We damaged some of the enemy ships, but mostly it was kept secret. Some guys would draw a little Japanese ship on the sides of their ship with the number of hits made on the enemy or how many enemy ships they sunk, but we didn't take pictures of that. There were no cameras on board. All of that was kept a secret. They didn't want it to get out how many ships we were damaging and sinking.

One night we picked up a Marine pilot who had ditched his airplane in the ocean. He was up about 10,000 feet when he had engine trouble. So he came down and crash-landed his plane right in our wake. He jumped out with his May West jacket on and we rescued him. That pilot was Jeff Deblanc from St. Martinsville. He was awarded the Medal of Honor during the war. I met him sometime after the war. There was a story about it in the newspaper.

One night we were patrolling off the East Coast of Guadalcanal, and we would hear "Washing-Machine Charley." It was pitch dark and we couldn't see anything, but we could hear him. That airplane was noisy like a washing machine. It passed so close I could feel the wind move through my shirt. It almost hit our ship. He didn't know where the hell he was. He must have been lost in the dark.

We stayed at sea all the time, but I got to go on an island one time. It was Espirito Santos. I went with a guy to get some supplies from the big stores they had on that island.

There were not many destroyers that were undamaged by enemy fire in the Pacific. My ship hit a mine sometime after I was transferred to my other ship. The Jenkins fought in Korea and Vietnam.

I came back to the states at the end of December in 1943. I went to Fire Fighting School in Bremerton Washington in January. While I was there I ran into Joe Terrell from Avery Island. He was a Marine stationed on a ship up there.

On the second ship, the Escort Carrier USS Sitkoh Bay, I was a water tender. I made fresh water from seawater. We used special effect boilers for that. It would take salt water, boil it, and would transfer to fresh water. I was making 20,000 gallons in 24-hours. I made enough water for the showers, but all of the water had to be purified to go into the engines. It was steam powered, so the engines needed fresh water to run. We carried a bunch of airplanes and had a crew of about six hundred men on board.

We were transporting airplanes from the states to all over the Pacific. We carried a lot of the newer planes to the Pacific, like the P-51 and the F-7. We carried a lot of troops too.

Walter McHellhenny was a friend of mine. I met him at Avery Island when he was a LT. in the Marines. When the war broke out he was shipped to Camp Pendelton in California. He was shipped to the Pacific on a ship. He commanded a rifle company. He caught malaria and was shipped to a hospital in Australia. A Negro assaulted him there and Walter hit him over the head with a stick. The Army didn't like that, so they discharged him. He took off on a PT Boat and they couldn't find him for awhile.

He told me about this Japanese Colonel who came running at him with a sword and he was wearing some kind of padding on his body. He said those Marines were firing at him with machine guns and that Colonel kept coming. He finally fell dead right in front of Walter.

Those Japs were fierce, cruel people. They didn't give a damn about dying.

The Japs lost the war in the Pacific at Midway. The American code breakers had broken the Japanese Naval codes and we knew when and where the Japs were going to attack. The Japs came in with six aircraft carriers. We sunk four of them. Midway was the decisive turning point in the war.

Admiral Yamomoto told the military that they could only fight the Americans for six months. They had enough supplies and resources to fight the Americans for six months. They had a lot of soldiers over there in Asia, and they wanted to take Australia. They were building an airfield on Guadalcanal to land and refuel their planes to bomb and attack the ports of Australia, and they hoped to eventually take over that country. But the Americans stepped in and we stopped them at Guadalcanal.

The Americans were ready to invade Japan. We got as far as Okinawa and Iwo Jima. They were set to go, but then we dropped the Atomic bomb. The officers in Japan didn't want to fight any longer, they knew all hope was lost. We dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki and the Japs surrendered.

We would have lost a lot of lives if we had invaded Japan. Those Japs on those islands stayed there till after the war. Some of them were still held up in the jungles 10-years after the war ended. Those Jap officers just left them there.

I came home in 1945 and I went to school in Pennsylvania.