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ALSO INSIDE: P•Features•Roll callof LivingstonParish veterans

2 Veterans, October 7, 2013

WWII vet’s unforgettable journeySuicide planes, sickness and other adventures while saving the world P

By John Dupont The Livingston Parish News

DENHAM SPRINGS – Now more than ever, the words

“thank you” put a smile on the face of Billy Matthews.

The World War II Navy vet-eran says it pleases him when people stop him to express their gratitude about his ser-vice to the country.

“I think it’s great that our country woke up to the fact that we (the military) are the reason our country is free,” the Walker resident said. “It seems everywhere I go now, people tell me the same thing when I tell them I was in World War II, and it means so much to me.”

Matthews, 88, is among the last of his generation of thousands of World War II veterans who were shipped overseas to safeguard the United States and other Allied Powers against Germany, Japan and other Axis nations.

The native of Cleveland, Tenn., has enjoyed a long life, but it saddens him to see how few of his fellow soldiers remain in 2013.

“There aren’t many World War II veterans left,” he said. “They’re dying at a rate of 1,500 a day … we’re all in our eighties and nineties.”

Matthews was drafted in 1942, inducted in Chattanooga, Tenn., and did basic training in Bainbridge, Md. After boot camp, he was shipped to Norfolk, Va., and

went through schools to pre-pare for a tour overseas.

He went to survival school and gunnery school during his training period.

“Survival school was obvi-ously the most important,” Matthews said.

He was then shipped to Charleston, S.C., the city where the ship on which he served was built.

Matthews served on the USS Manning DE 199, the same as a destroyer, but slightly smaller. It carried 250 sailors.

Matthews served as a gunner on the ship, went to Bermuda on a shakedown cruise, then to the Panama Canal and Pearl Harbor and down the Equator into the South Pacific.

He participated in four invasions, including one of the first in the Philippines at Lady Gulf under Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

“I was inside that ship

when he waved it ashore,” Matthews said. “We were escorting troops and troop ships, ammunition ships and protecting fleet orders, pro-tecting troops and fighting off suicide planes.

“One of the suicide planes came in and crashed on us,” he said. “I picked up a little piece of his plane that flew all to pieces and made a ring of it, which I have today.”

Matthews remembers hav-ing a gun strapped to a 20 mm rapid-fire.

“We had two men and we had a set of phones in contact with the bridge so we could be told when an enemy plane

Billy Matthews, U.S. Navy

MATTHEWS Page 8

Veterans, October 7, 2013 3

By John Dupont The Livingston Parish News

HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan — Military deploy-ments have been

almost a regular part of adult life for United States Marine Corp First Lieutenant Travis Horner — and it’s exactly what he wanted.

Horner, a 1998 Live Oak High School graduate, recently began his sixth month deployment in Afghanistan, where he, fellow Marines and civilian contrac-tors from Lockheed Martin fly a K-Max, an unmanned cargo resup-ply helicopter.

“It’s a very close camaraderie,” Horner said. “We spend a mini-mum of 18 hours a day together.”

Horner, son of Denise Whitehead and Tommy Horner, is in his fourth round of deployment since his enlistment in January 1999.

He spent six months in college

at his mother’s request, but a military life remained his career aspiration.

“I never had anything else in mind,” he said. “As long as I could remember — as far back as my teenage years — I wanted to join the Marines.”

Both of Horner’s grandparents — Doyle Whitehead, of Gloster, Miss., and the late Thomas Horner — served time in the military. Horner was a member of the U.S. Coast Guard, and Whitehead served in the Air Force, where he worked as a steward on Air Force One during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.

Even with the changes in tech-nology and strategic planning over the years, a mutual respect exists among military personnel of different generations.

“There’s a familiarity between two people who served in combat, and I can’t really describe it to someone who hasn’t been there,” he said. “I’d never compare our

situation to that of World War II because it was a different environ-ment, different generation and different war, but any long deploy-ment takes its toll.”

Horner had been stationed in 29 Palms California, near Palm Springs, as well as an Army base at Fort Knox, Ky. He then moved to a commissioning program at LSU, where he became an officer.

Much of the time has been spent in deployment. He served a tour of duty in Iraq in 2003, as well as two non-combat deployments — Egypt in Operation Bright Star (2002) and the 13th Military Expedition Unit (2000-01).

Horner never feared deploy-ment.

“Personally, it was something I looked forward to,” he said. “I didn’t just go four years for a chance to get college money. I did it for the service to our country, and I’m glad to have gotten the opportunity to do something oper-ationally,” he said.

The climate in the region requires adjustment time, he said.

“It’s one of the toughest areas of the world, very hot in the sum-mer and very cold in the winter,” Horner said. “You’re in a rocky, mountainous terrain against an enemy that’s very well suited, so they have the homefield advantage as for knowing how to handle the climate.”

Uncertainty poses the greatest challenge for military person-nel in deployment because of the reports they hear on the region.

“The uncertainty is probably the toughest part for us,” Horner said. “You read reports of what’s going on in the outlying areas, but I’m probably in one of the safer parts of Afghanistan, where we’re very secure on a large base.”

The thought of safety, however, does little to taper the stress level among soldiers.

Family tradition leads Horner to Afghanistan

HORNER Page 9


I ROLL CALL OF HONOR ___The following are veterans of Livingston Parish families who served their country. We thank them for their sacri-fices. We thank their families for sharing with us.

Name: Anthony Joseph Pourciau IIIBranch of Service: ArmyRank: Specialist 5 Machine GunnerDates of Service: 1960-1962

Name: Arbary Linwood CorkernBranch of Service: ArmyRank: E5Dates of Service: 1967-1970

Name: Ashby John MillerBranch of Service: MarinesRank: Lance CorporalDates of Service: 1969-1973

Name: Ben OryBranch of Service: MarinesServed 3 tours in Iraq and AfghanistanDrove fuel truck, received 2 commendations for courage under fire in Baghdad

Name: Bobby Dale RoundtreeBranch of Service: MarinesRank: Lance Corporal, E3Dates of Service: 1969-1975

Anthony Joseph Pourciau III Ben Ory Bobby Dale Roundtree

LIvIngston PArIsHHEroEs

Veterans, October 7, 2013 5I ROLL CALL OF HONOR ___The following are veterans of Livingston Parish families who served their country. We thank them for their sacrifices. We thank their families for shar-ing with us.

Name: Brian D. MarquezBranch of Service: ArmyRank: Sergeant First ClassDates of Service: 1992-present (2 tours over-seas)

Name: Caleb Mark SavantBranch of Service: ArmyRank: SpecialistDates of Service: 2008-2012

Name: Casey Brantly GilbertBranch of Service: ArmyRank: SSGDates of Service: 2006-2013

Name: Cecil ThamesBranch of Service: ArmyDates of Service: 1957-1959Stationed in Germany with recon outfit

Brian D. Marquez

Caleb Mark Savant

Casey Gilbert

Cecil Thames




Name: Charles Rayford Ratcliff IIBranch of Service: MarinesDates of Service: 1966-1970

Name: Charles Henry WaxBranch of Service: Air ForceRank: Private First ClassDates of Service: 1946-1949

Name: Casey Christopher Dean CannadayBranch of Service: ArmyRank: SergeantDates of Service: 1998-2002

Name: Clint PerryBranch of Service: MarinesDates of Service: 4-1/2 yearsOperation Enduring Freedom22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit

Name: Clyde C. CockerhamBranch of Service: ArmyRank: Private First ClassDates of Service: 1944-1945

Charles Rayford Ratcliff II Clint Perry Clyde C. Cockerham

LIvIngston PArIsH HEroEs

Veterans, October 7, 2013 7I ROLL CALL OF HONOR ___The following are veterans of Livingston Parish families who served their country. We thank them for their sacri-fices. We thank their families for sharing with us.

Name: Cody BallardBranch of Service: MarinesRank: CorporalDates of Service: 2008-2012

Name: Coryel Brent CulbertsonBranch of Service: MarinesRank: Gunnery SergeantDates of Service: 1954-1974

Name: Craig D. WelchBranch of Service: ArmyRank: SergeantDates of Service: 1992-2000

Name: Curtis Chance VaughnBranch of Service: ArmyRank: Staff SergeantDates of Service: 2004-2011

Name: Curtis M. WascomBranch of Service: ArmyRank: Staff Specialist 4Dates of Service: 1969-1971

Cody Ballard Curtis Chance Vaughn

Donald Ray Richard

Name: Donald Ray RichardBranch of Service: ArmyRank: Specialist 4th ClassDates of Service: 1968-1971


was closing in and how far away it was so we could be on the alert and at the proper time they’d give us the orders to fire at will,” he said. “We were going up through the straits and on to Lady Gulf, where we got attacked by a lot of suicide planes that came out the jungle airstrips with a one-way ticket – they weren’t supposed to come back.”

Matthews and his fellow sol-diers often wondered the same about themselves.

They spent two years in combat, although they were supposed to be relieved after 18 months.

“We never got relieved,” Matthews said. “We kept going into another invasion, and we were all broken out with solid heat rashes all over our bodies.”

The long tour of duty had long-term effects on the sailors, both physically and mentally, he said.

“We had a couple guys who

kind of went crazy, and one of them who went crazy after we got back, when his hair turned solid white, and later I heard he wound up in an insane asylum,” Matthews said. “Another guy from Birmingham, Ala., broke down completely and never got out of there.

“He called me when I was in

Tennessee to tell me he wanted out, but they wouldn’t release him and they kept him sedated,” he said. “Another shipmate had several heart attacks and died. We were down near the equator and we were all broke out solid all over our bodies with heat rashes and sores and we had some so bad they couldn’t walk anymore and were laid up in their bunks with solid rash and sores all across their bodies.

“We had a doctor come aboard, and he told the officers that if this ship didn’t go back to the states soon, the whole ship would crack up,” Matthews said.

He spent time in Long Beach, Calif., where he met his first wife, the former Leddy Richard of Church Point. He then worked in southern California at a Ford Motor Plant.

They headed to Louisiana after that, where he went to work with a Baton Rouge-based Cadillac dealership. When the owner died, Bob Coleman took

over the dealership, as well as the Oldsmobile dealerships.

Matthews remained in auto sales until he retired in 2000, not long before General Motors dis-continued the Oldsmobile line.

Matthews later remarried. He and his wife enjoy traveling, particularly camping trips. In fact, he also buys and sells travel trailers.

He has great respect for the current generation of soldiers and sailors. He wishes the deployment did not put as much strain on those with families.

“One thing I’ve seen is that guys we’re sending over to Afghanistan, these young guys who are married with a couple little kids … they shouldn’t do that,” he said. “Their lives are on the line, and they shouldn’t be sending over people there who have small children. I’m very grateful for their service, and they all deserve better than that.”

‘I think it’s great that our country woke up to the fact that we (the military) are the reason our country is free.’ Billy Matthews

WWII vet

Matthews recalls 2 years in combat without reliefFrom Page 2

Billy Matthews, 88

Veterans, October 7, 2013 9Horner relates to experiences of veterans from past generations

Live Oak High graduate Travis Horner is now a Marine deployed in Afghanistan.

“There’s always that uncer-tainty about a rocket, and if you think about it too much, it can get to you,” Horner said. “The stress level is always very hard on a sol-dier, and there’s no down time or opportunity to just kick back and relax,” he said. “Here, we have the constant awareness of the insider threat, and the indirect fire from rockets, so you always have to be on alert, and I don’t necessarily feel that way at home.”

Despite the stress level, morale remains very high among U.S. mil-itary personnel, Horner said.

“Everybody over here fights for one another and does what they can do to protect one another,” he said.

For Horner, the toughest part of employment does not involve deployment. At the time of the interview, he was two days

removed from the birthday of his wife.

“That part never gets easier,” he said. “It’s one of those things you miss and wish you were there for.”

Technology makes things a little easier for Horner. He can pick up the phone or even communicate through Skype to keep up with his wife, as well as his daughter Anna, 16, and son Lawson, 11.

“In some regards it’s a little more trying because you’re involved every single day in their lives through numerous forms of communication, puts them on your mind a lot more and makes you miss home a lot more,” he said. “But the great part is that I can see them and they can see me … tech-nology is a beautiful thing.”

Horner misses both the Louisiana food and football, a sport he played during his days at Live Oak High School.

But his morale gets plenty of boosts.

“I have a wall in my office in Afghanistan where I post let-ters, pictures, trinkets and other items I get from people all over the country, including some from people I don’t know,” Horner said. “I have an entire wall of kid pic-tures, many from elementary-age students who tell me how thank-ful they are and how proud we’ve made them.

“It instills hope in the next gen-eration,” he said. “If you watch on TV, it’s easy to lose focus of the fact that we still live in the best damn country on the planet.”

As for his friends in Livingston Parish, Horner says he misses them and looks forward to seeing them when he returns for several weeks during the holidays.

“I’d like to tell my friends at home I miss them and that I look forward to seeing them in December … and Go Eagles!”

From Page 3

Name: Elizabeth A. Juanand Craig L. JuanBranch of Service: Air ForceRank: Captain and Senior Master SergeantDates of Service: 1996-2013 and 1990-pres-ent

Name: Eugene A. PellegrinBranch of Service: ArmyRank: CorporalDates of Service: 1954-1956 (Korean War)

Name: George H. Vicknair IIIBranch of Service: Coast GuardRank: 3 ClassDates of Service: 1951-1954

Name: Harvey TateBranch of Service: Air ForceRank: Staff SergeantDates of Service: 1951-1955

Name: Holly Marie RogersBranch of Service: ArmyRank: SpecialistDates of Service: 1997-2000

Name: Jack Verner StoryBranch of Service: Air Force

Name: James David FergusonBranch of Service: Air ForceRank: Master SergeantDates of Service: 1982-2007

Name: James Thomas LambertBranch of Service: ArmyRank: SergeantDates of Service: 1962-1970


I ROLL CALL OF HONOR ___

Holly Rogers

Harvey Tate

Elizabeth and Craig Juan

WALKER — The third annual Veterans Day Parade here Saturday starts at 1 p.m., climaxing a morning of events honoring members of our community and beyond who have served.

Billy Matthews, a veteran of World War II, will serve as grand marshal and start the parade. Leading the way will be a “rolling thunder” of mo-torcycles who will then line the parade route in a guard of honor. Dozens of floats along with numerous military vehicles, antique cars, and vintage Mustangs, Corvettes and Cadillacs will carry officials, honored guests and the grand marshal, General Russel L. Honoré LTG USA (Retired).

Local veterans will be riding in 30 jeeps provided by AWOL Jeeps, and veter-ans from two war homes – Jackson and Reserve – will ride in the parade in the decorated buses that will bring them to Walker.

Those guest veterans will arrive at about 9:45 escorted by state police, the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office, motorcyclists in the Patriot Guards, Blue Knights and Iron Warriors, according to Robert Dugas, chairman of the event.

They and any local veterans who wish to do so will be registered starting at 9 a.m. before the program, which begins at 10 in the Walker High School gym.

Livingston Parish Veterans Association Chairman Lynn King will intro-duce Lt. Melindez of Wreaths Across America and Commander Larry Var-nado of the nuclear submarine USS Louisiana, which has sent crew members from the West Coast each year of the parade.

Lauren Westbrook of WAFB, Channel 9, will emcee the program, introduc-ing first Walker Mayor Rick Ramsey to welcome veterans and visitors and then Jimmy Alford, who will give the invocation and lead the Pledge of Al-legiance.

A soloist from the Livingston Parish Children's Choirs will sing "The Star Spangled Banner"; Jack Watson of Chapter 725 of the Vietnam Veterans of America will enact the POW/MIA Table of Remembrance; Parish President Layton Ricks will address the veterans; the winner of an essay contest on "What a Veteran Means to Me" will read that essay; Chief Jay Johnson of the Fleet Reserve Association will perform the Two Bell Ceremony; and Jenny Heroman will sing "God Bless America" before General Honoré gives the Key Note address and Westbrook closes out the ceremony.

At 11:15, all veterans present will be seated and served a meal catered by James Window.

Vets converge Saturdayfor huge Walker Parade

The following are veterans of Livings-ton Parish families who served their country. We thank them for their sac-rifices. We thank their families for sharing with us.

Veterans, October 7, 2013 11I ROLL CALL OF HONOR ___

The following are veterans of Livingston Parish families who served their country. We thank them for their sacrifices. We thank their families for sharing with us.

Name: James G. NunnBranch of Service: ArmyRank: SergeantDates of Service: 1982-1994

Name: James R. AlfordBranch of Service: ArmyRank: Specialist 4th ClassDates of Service: 1962-1964

Name: Jerry Harlon WilsonBranch of Service: ArmyRank: SergeantDates of Service: 1967-1972

Name: Jerry Harlon Wilson Jr.Branch of Service: ArmyRank: Specialist E4Dates of Service: 2006-2010

Name: Jerry RobertsonBranch of Service: MarinesRank: CorporalDates of Service: 1957-1959

Jerry Harlon Wilson Jr.

LIvIngston PArIsH HEroEs

Jerry Robertson

Jerry Harlon Wilson

James R. Alford


I ROLL CALL OF HONOR ___The following are veterans of Livingston Parish families who served their country. We thank them for their sacrifices. We thank their families for sharing with us.

Name: John CourtneyBranch of Service: NavyRank: SF3Dates of Service: 1963-1969

Name: John A. MartinezBranch of Service: MarinesRank: SergeantDates of Service: 1999-2009

Name: John Robert VerrettBranch of Service: ArmyServed in Afghanistan

Name: Joseph GuerinBranch of Service: NavyRank: 1st class aviation metalsmithDates of Service: 1943-1945

Name: Joseph LefebvreBranch of Service: Merchant MarineRank: Radio OfficerDates of Service: 1943-1947

Name: Joseph Milton ArmenioBranch of Service: ArmyRank: SoldierDates of Service: 1970-1972

Joseph Milton Armenio

John Courtney

John A. Martinez Joseph Guerin

Veterans, October 7, 2013 13


I ROLL CALL OF HONOR ___

The following are veterans of Livingston Parish families who served their country. We thank them for their sacrifices. We thank their families for sharing with us.

Name: Justin Paul JonesBranch of Service: ArmyRank: SpecialistDates of Service: 2011-PresentFort Hood, Afghanistan

Name: Kelli Shannon CannadayBranch of Service: Air ForceRank: Staff SergeantDates of Service: 1987-1999

Name: Kenley Keddie BrownBranch of Service: NavyYN1 Submarine ServiceDates of Service: 1983-2003

Name: Kenley Murphy BrownBranch of Service: MarinesRank: CorporalDates of Service : 2008-2012

Name: Kenneth Wayne Rogers Jr.Branch of Service: MarinesRank: CorporalDates of Service: 1984-1988

Name: Leo ReederBranch of Service: ArmyRank: SergeantDates of Service: 1989-1997

Name: LeRoy J. Clement Jr.Branch of Service: ArmyRank: Specialist 4Dates of Service: 1971-1972

Name: Marvin EcclesBranch of Service: ArmyRank: CorporalDates of Service: 1950-1954Bronze Star recipient, Korea

Leo Reeder

Marvin Eccles

Justin Paul JonesKenneth Wayne Rogers Jr.



Name: Linen Paul MatherneBranch of Service: Army, 183rd SeahorseRank: SergeantDates of Service: 1969-1972

Name: Michael CarpenterBranch of Service: Army National GuardRank: SergeantDates of Service: 1979-1985

Name: Peter BourgeoisBranch of Service: ArmyRank: Tec 5 InfantryDates of Service: 1941-1945

Name: Ralph B. SistrunkBranch of Service: NavyRank: F1CEM (Fireman First Class)Dates of Service: 1944-1947

Name: Robert S. MellonBranch of Service: Army Air CorpsRank: Flight Engineer

Linen Paul Matherne

Peter Bourgeois

Robert S. Mellon

Veterans, October 7, 2013 15I ROLL CALL OF HONOR ___The following are veterans of Liv-ingston Parish families who served their country. We thank them for their sacrifices. We thank their families for sharing with us.

Name: Richard DoughertyBranch of Service: Navy & MarinesRank: Corpsman, fleet Marine Force medic and field medical techServed in Vietnam, Lebanon and Granada

Name: Robert C. BankstonBranch of Service: Air ForceRank: CorporalDates of Service: 1946-1949

Name: Robert B. DanielsBranch of Service: NavyRank: Engineman 2nd ClassDates of Service: 1974-1978

Name: Rod CourtneyBranch of Service: ArmyRank: Medical Platoon, Section Section SergeantDates of Service: 1990-1998

Name: Roger Marion GothardBranch of Service: Air ForceRank: Master Sergeant Security ServicesDates of Service: 1963-1984

Name: Ronald HimelBranch of Service: NavyRank: E-4Dates of Service: 4 years, served on destroyer in Mediterranean, Cuban missile blockade

Name: Timothy Neil Germany Jr.Branch of Service: NavyRank: Electronic Warfare Tech/CryptologistDates of Service: 2002-2008

Name: Timothy TaylorBranch of Service: ArmyRank: Specialist 82nd AirborneDates of Service: 4 years

Name: Tony JarreauBranch of Service: MarinesRank: CorporalDates of Service: 1994-1998

Roger Marion Gothard

Timothy Neil Germany Jr. Timothy Taylor

Tony Jarreau




Name: Tyler IcenogleBranch of Service: Army National GuardRank: SpecialistDates of Service: 2008-present

Name: Wally DaigleBranch of Service: ArmyRank: Helicopter mechanicDates of Service: 1986-1998

Name: Walter DempseyBranch of Service: ArmyRank: Specialist 4th Class Signal CorpsDates of Service: 1970-1973

Name: William Wayne LawsonBranch of Service: Air Force and Army National GuardRank: Sergeant First Class, retiredDates of Service: 1986-2013

Tyler Icenogle Walter Dempsey William Wayne Lawson


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