Marines bring in his Wildcat

It wasn’t for keeps or to park in his garage, but being surprised with the type of aircraft he used to shoot down six Japanese fighter planes over the Pacific Ocean in 1943 set up a memorable day for retired U.S. Marine Corps pilot Jeff DeBlanc, 86, of St. Martinville.

“I am so very humbled and it’s so nice to see everyone who came out to do this for me,” said DeBlanc as he looked into the crowd sprinkled with young uniformed officers. “As one Marine to another I look at them as veterans that survived the war just like me.”

Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Harry Truman in 1946 for his heroic moves in the South Pacific, DeBlanc has spent years telling his extraordinary war stories to attentive ears.

The private gathering of DeBlanc’s family, friends, and military buddies was spearheaded by Capt. Charlie Simmons who said that the idea to fly in the Grumman F4F Wildcat from Addison, Texas, was done on a whim.

“I was having a casual conversation with Bud Lee and I told him that I thought it would be nice to honor (DeBlanc) in some way,” Simmons said. “I found a guy with a refurbished WWII frontline carrier fighter and everything fell into place from there.”

As the plane arrived at the airport, its olive green wings spread majestically in width detailed on its sides by a large white star trailed by a dark blue stripe.

Once its polished propellers finished slicing through the sunlight, the crowd gathered around to get a peak at a piece of history.

The aircraft was flown in by Michael Burke and is regularly housed at the Cavanaugh Flight Museum.

Simmons said that several of DeBlanc’s friends chipped in to raise roughly $3,000 to get the plane flown in Wednesday to the Acadiana Regional Airport.

DeBlanc’s son, Jeff DeBlanc Jr., said he was proud of his father’s accomplishments and appreciative of what his father’s friends had pulled together to do.

“I am very proud of my dad and it’s a wonderful opportunity for him to the see the plane he actually flew over Guadalcanal in WWII,” said DeBlanc Jr. “He was also excited that the F-18 planes that had the same squadron as him were here too.”

In reference to Tom Brokaw’s best-selling book “The Greatest Generation,” Capt. Bud Forrest said that DeBlanc epitomizes the importance of that generation.

“He’s certified ‘Greatest Generation,’ ” said Forrest. “They didn’t ask for anything. They just went over there, won the war and didn’t think twice about it.”

DeBlanc received celebrity treatment Wednesday as he signed autographs and stood in for dozens of photos with adoring fans of all ages and military branches.

Aside from the specially requested aircraft flown in as a surprise, four other F-18 fighter jets danced over head for DeBlanc’s pleasure as well as for the pleasure of pilots-to-be.

“Jets are really cool,” said DeBlanc’s 8-year-old great-grandson Taylor Romero, who plans to become a pilot in the armed services like his great-grandfather.

“I like that my grandpa was a hero because it lets me know I can be one too.”

Romero was accompanied by his cousins Sean Broussard, 6, Beau Broussard, 4, and DeBlanc’s granddaughter Christie Broussard, who said that after years of hearing her grandfather’s story things still seem surreal.

“My grandfather still has a spear from one of the natives on the island where he was captured hanging in his living room,” Christie said.

Things like the spear and several photos are what make the stories come to life, she said.

Capt. Conrad Milne, USMC, out of NAS Atlanta in Marietta, Ga., was among the four pilots who flew in for the event.

A second pilot, Maj. Kevin Paetzold, spent a portion of the event answering questions from curious civilians about the jet’s maneuvering and fighting capabilities.

“From here we can shoot 478 rounds in four seconds,” he explained, pointing to the jet’s front shooter.

Paetzold said that he was honored to make the trip because of his connection to DeBlanc through his squadron.

“He was in our squadron when he shot down those planes in WWII,” Paetzold said. “The squadron is VMFA-112.”

Lawrence Gauthier, 80, said that he has known DeBlanc since he was 5 years old growing up in St. Martinville. The two would later become pilots and shared the same squadron.

“This is fantastic and he deserves it,” Gauthier said. “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.”

DeBlanc is the last living Medal of Honor recipient in the state of Louisiana. He retired as a colonel in 1972.