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LOUISIANA
HONORS ITS VETERANS: THE PACIFIC
Louisiana
Public Broadcasting and the National
D-Day Museum in New Orleans paid tribute to the men and women
of Louisiana who served in the Pacific Theater during World II during
a special live broadcast on LPB on Thursday, September 20, 2001. The
program aired on all six LPB stations and WLAE-TV32 in New Orleans.
The special also served as a preview of the Pacific wing of the
D-Day Museum
that was dedicated on December 7, 2001. The D-Day
Museum opened on June 6, 2000 and this is the first addition to
the facility in Downtown New Orleans since that time. During the broadcast,
Louisiana veterans had the opportunity to get information on tickets
for the opening of the Pacific wing in December and tell their stories
about the war.
"This
special program represents what is so good about public broadcasting. Louisiana
Public Broadcasting is making it possible for people throughout
the State to see and hear about our plans for the grand opening of
the Pacific
Exhibit on December 7," D-Day
Museum Board
Chairman Donald "Boysie" Bollinger said. "We had a similar
call-in program on LPB last year before the grand opening of the Museum
and more than 1,200 Louisianians called in with their veteran stories
and to get more information about our grand opening. It helped put the National D-Day Museum on
the map in Louisiana."
The special
spotlights the contributions of such heroic Louisianians as General
Claire Chennault and the Fighting Tigers and Congressional Medal of
Honor
winner Jeff DeBlanc of St. Martinville who shot down nine Japanese planes
before being shot down behind enemy lines. Hosted by Bob Courtney,
distinguished
guests and panelists include:
- Gordon
“Nick” Mueller Ph.D., President, D-Day Museum
- Donald
“Boysie” Bollinger, Chairman, D-Day Museum
- Hugh
Ambrose, Research Historian
- Tom Czekanski,
Collections Manager
- Marty
Morgan, Research Historian
- Woodrow
Wilson Morgan, USAAF, Indo-China/Burma Theater
- Paula
Ussery, Curator of Collection
- Arthur
Abramson, US Navy, Hellcat Pilot
- Berel
Wheeler, Engineer, Burma Theater
- Jeff
DeBlanc, US Marines, VMF-112
- Annelle
Henderson Bulechek, WASP
- Wilbur
Rogers, US Navy, USS Foote
- Robert
Bourgeois, USAAF, Dolittle Raid
- Nolan
Marshall Jr., US Marines, 1st Marine Division
- Bob Harris,
US Navy, USS Swordfish, USS Flying Fish
 "We
are pleased that LPB could play a part in giving this long overdue recognition
to the brave people of Louisiana who fought so heroically in the Pacific,"
LPB President/CEO Beth Courtney said. Underwriting
for this program was provided by Texaco,
Inc.
For more
information, contact Bob Neese at
Louisiana Public Broadcasting at 1-800-272-8161 or The
Erhardt Group at 504-558-0311.
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