Jefferson J. DeBlanc

Jefferson DeBlanc, born in Lockport in 1921, was one of roughly 24,500 Cajun soldiers who served in World War II. On January 31, 1943, over Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands, the Marine fighter pilot shot down five Japanese aircraft in about five minutes, then was shot down himself and bailed out. President Truman presented the medal on December 6, 1946. DeBlanc went home to St. Martinville and earned a doctorate in education at McNeese State in Lake Charles in 1973. When he died in 2007 he was the state's last surviving World War II recipient.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Mardi Gras Museum of Imperial Calcasieu — 1.1 mi
  A 6,000-square-foot museum of southwest Louisiana Carnival with about 275 costume mannequins and 14 animated figures, opened in April 2026.
• Imperial Calcasieu Museum — 1.4 mi
  Lake Charles's history museum, founded by the Junior League in 1963, with parish artifacts, Claire Chennault's uniform and the Sallier Oak.
• Sam Houston Jones State Park — 5.0 mi
  A 1,087-acre park on the West Fork of the Calcasieu with longleaf pine, cypress-tupelo swamp, five trails, cabins and kayak rentals.
• Creole Nature Trail Adventure Point — 9.4 mi
  A free visitor center at the western gateway of Louisiana's only All-American Road, with exhibits on alligators, migrating songbirds and the estuary.

More markers nearby

• Edward Schowalter, Jr. — steps away
• Hulon Brooks Whittington — steps away
• Michael J. Novasel — steps away
• Douglas B. Fournet — steps away