Jefferson DeBlanc Sr., 86; awarded Medal of Honor
It’s been four days since my last post and now reading three (news)papers a day, I could not find a news or political story to use as the basis of a blog post.
However, I was fortunate enough to come across the obituary of Mr. Jefferson DeBlanc Sr. in the Los Angeles Times.
Please allow me to post his obituary here as a final tribute to this hero and as a reminder of the heroes that are being made every day on our behalf in Afghanistan, Iraq and other parts of the world not covered by the media.
It will only take a minute or two of your time, please read the Los Angeles Times’ obituary for Mr. Jefferson DeBlanc, recipient of the Medal of Honor (bold and italics mine for emphasis):
LOS ANGELES - US Marine Colonel Jefferson DeBlanc Sr., who was awarded the Medal of Honor after a World War II battle in which he shot down five enemy aircraft, parachuted from his damaged plane, then swam to an island where tribesmen traded him for a 5-pound sack of rice, has died. He was 86.
Colonel DeBlanc, who later became a high school math and physics teacher, died Thursday at Lafayette General Medical Center in Lafayette, La., from complications of pneumonia, said his son, Frank of St. Martinville, La.
The incident that earned Colonel DeBlanc the nation's highest military honor took place Jan. 31, 1943, during aerial operations against Japanese forces off Kolombangara Island in the Solomon Islands in the Pacific.
A Japanese fleet was spotted headed toward Guadalcanal. US dive bombers were sent to attack the fleet with fighter aircraft deployed to protect the bombers. In a one-man Grumman Wildcat fighter, Colonel DeBlanc led six fighter planes in Marine Fighting Squadron 112, according to the citation that accompanied his Medal of Honor.
At the rendezvous point, Colonel DeBlanc discovered that his plane, dubbed "The Impatient Virgin," was running out of fuel. If Colonel DeBlanc fought the Japanese, he would not have enough fuel to return to base. Two of his comrades, whose planes malfunctioned, turned back, according to a 1999 article in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
"We needed all the guns we could get up there to escort those bombers," Colonel DeBlanc said in the article. "I figured if I run out of gas, I run out of gas. I figured I could survive a bailout. I had confidence in my will to survive. You've got to live with your conscience. And my conscience told me to go ahead."
Colonel DeBlanc and the other pilots waged fierce combat until "picking up a call for assistance from the dive bombers, under attack by enemy float planes at 1,000 feet, he broke off his engagement with the Zeros, plunged into the formation of float planes, and disrupted the savage attack, enabling our dive bombers and torpedo planes to complete their runs on the Japanese surface disposition and withdraw without further incident," the citation states.
Ultimately, Colonel DeBlanc shot down two float planes and three Zeros, Japanese aircraft equipped with cannons and machine guns. A bullet ripped through Colonel DeBlanc's plane and hit his instrument panel, causing it to erupt into flames. Colonel DeBlanc "was forced to bail out at a perilously low altitude," according to the citation.
Colonel DeBlanc was born Feb. 15, 1921, in Lockport, La. In 1940, he signed up for the Civilian Pilot Training program at Southwestern Louisiana Institute, now the University of Louisiana, Lafayette. He left the program and joined the Marine Corps flight program.
After his plane was shot down in 1943, Colonel DeBlanc swam to an island and slept in a hut until he was discovered by islanders and placed in a bamboo cage. The man who traded a sack of rice for him was named "Ati," an islander whom Colonel DeBlanc later called a guardian angel, responsible for orchestrating his rescue by a US Navy boat.
On Dec. 6, 1946, President Truman awarded Colonel DeBlanc the Medal of Honor. His other honors include a Purple Heart, several Bronze Stars, and the Distinguished Flying Cross.
In addition to his son Frank, Colonel DeBlanc leaves four other children and several grandchildren. (End of obituary for Medal of Honor recipient, Mr. Jefferson DeBlanc.)
It’s been four days since my last post and now reading three (news)papers a day, I could not find a news or political story to use as the basis of a blog post.
However, I was fortunate enough to come across the obituary of Mr. Jefferson DeBlanc Sr. in the Los Angeles Times.
Please allow me to post his obituary here as a final tribute to this hero and as a reminder of the heroes that are being made every day on our behalf in Afghanistan, Iraq and other parts of the world not covered by the media.
It will only take a minute or two of your time, please read the Los Angeles Times’ obituary for Mr. Jefferson DeBlanc, recipient of the Medal of Honor (bold and italics mine for emphasis):
LOS ANGELES - US Marine Colonel Jefferson DeBlanc Sr., who was awarded the Medal of Honor after a World War II battle in which he shot down five enemy aircraft, parachuted from his damaged plane, then swam to an island where tribesmen traded him for a 5-pound sack of rice, has died. He was 86.
Colonel DeBlanc, who later became a high school math and physics teacher, died Thursday at Lafayette General Medical Center in Lafayette, La., from complications of pneumonia, said his son, Frank of St. Martinville, La.
The incident that earned Colonel DeBlanc the nation's highest military honor took place Jan. 31, 1943, during aerial operations against Japanese forces off Kolombangara Island in the Solomon Islands in the Pacific.
A Japanese fleet was spotted headed toward Guadalcanal. US dive bombers were sent to attack the fleet with fighter aircraft deployed to protect the bombers. In a one-man Grumman Wildcat fighter, Colonel DeBlanc led six fighter planes in Marine Fighting Squadron 112, according to the citation that accompanied his Medal of Honor.
At the rendezvous point, Colonel DeBlanc discovered that his plane, dubbed "The Impatient Virgin," was running out of fuel. If Colonel DeBlanc fought the Japanese, he would not have enough fuel to return to base. Two of his comrades, whose planes malfunctioned, turned back, according to a 1999 article in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
"We needed all the guns we could get up there to escort those bombers," Colonel DeBlanc said in the article. "I figured if I run out of gas, I run out of gas. I figured I could survive a bailout. I had confidence in my will to survive. You've got to live with your conscience. And my conscience told me to go ahead."
Colonel DeBlanc and the other pilots waged fierce combat until "picking up a call for assistance from the dive bombers, under attack by enemy float planes at 1,000 feet, he broke off his engagement with the Zeros, plunged into the formation of float planes, and disrupted the savage attack, enabling our dive bombers and torpedo planes to complete their runs on the Japanese surface disposition and withdraw without further incident," the citation states.
Ultimately, Colonel DeBlanc shot down two float planes and three Zeros, Japanese aircraft equipped with cannons and machine guns. A bullet ripped through Colonel DeBlanc's plane and hit his instrument panel, causing it to erupt into flames. Colonel DeBlanc "was forced to bail out at a perilously low altitude," according to the citation.
Colonel DeBlanc was born Feb. 15, 1921, in Lockport, La. In 1940, he signed up for the Civilian Pilot Training program at Southwestern Louisiana Institute, now the University of Louisiana, Lafayette. He left the program and joined the Marine Corps flight program.
After his plane was shot down in 1943, Colonel DeBlanc swam to an island and slept in a hut until he was discovered by islanders and placed in a bamboo cage. The man who traded a sack of rice for him was named "Ati," an islander whom Colonel DeBlanc later called a guardian angel, responsible for orchestrating his rescue by a US Navy boat.
On Dec. 6, 1946, President Truman awarded Colonel DeBlanc the Medal of Honor. His other honors include a Purple Heart, several Bronze Stars, and the Distinguished Flying Cross.
In addition to his son Frank, Colonel DeBlanc leaves four other children and several grandchildren. (End of obituary for Medal of Honor recipient, Mr. Jefferson DeBlanc.)
posted by Zack at 5:40 PM
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