Addy Melancon

Addy Melancon, 99-year-old native of Henderson, LA, is the last living World War II veteran of the Louisiana National Guard from the Bayou Teche area. He joined Company F, 2nd Battalion of the 156th Infantry Regiment in 1940 at the age of 17. Of the 135 young men who made up the Breaux Bridge company, all of them spoke French as their first language—many of them could not speak English. In November 1940, the entire Louisiana National Guard was federalized and sent to basic training at Camp Blanding, Florida. Following the Pearl Harbor attack, the unit was sent to South Carolina to guard the East Coast. From there, the 156th went to Camp Bowie, Texas, along with other units, for several months of extensive infantry training. Throughout all of their training at various locations, the young Cajuns of Company F continued to speak to each other, and conduct close-order drills, in their native French language—much to the chagrin of their fellow Anglo comrades from other states. In early 1943, Addy Melancon was transferred out of his guard unit and sent to Office Candidate School. In September 1944, he was sent to Europe and joined the 83rd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion of 3rd Armored Division. This mobile armored unit rolled through France and saw heavy fighting in Germany. Lt. Melancon served as an interpreter for the unit and rode in a jeep communicating in French with the local people and transferred that information onto his unit leaders and tank commanders. After the liberation of Europe in May 1944, Lt. Melancon volunteered to stay in France for 8 months to assist with the sale and distribution of surplus army equipment to the local governments and town mayors. Throughout his entire service, his ability to speak French proved invaluable to military operations. Following his overseas service, he returned home and joined the newly reorganized Company F as an officer. He retired from the Louisiana National Guard as a major after 23 years of service.

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