Photograph: Father Joseph Verbis Lafleur of Opelousas, LA shown at the time of his ordination to the priesthood in April of 1938. (Carola Lillie Hartley Collection.)
CAROLA LILLIE HARTLEY
Publisher and Contributing Writer
The annual Memorial Mass to commemorate the 78th Anniversary of the death of Servant of God Lt. Father Joseph Verbis Lafleur will be held this year on Wednesday, September 7 at 6:30 P.M. at the St. Landry Catholic Church in Opelousas, LA.
Celebrant for the Mass will be Reverend Carl E. Beekman, a priest of the Diocese of Rockford, Illinois, and the donor of Fr. J. Verbis Lafleur’s chalice.
Who was Joseph Verbis Lafleur
One of eight children, Joseph Verbis, known as Verbis, was the fourth child of Agatha Dupré and Valentine Lafleur, born on January 24, 1912 in Ville Platte, Louisiana. Most of his early years were spent as a student at Mount Carmel Academy in the small South Louisiana town.
In the mid 1920s, the family moved to Opelousas, about 20 miles away, to be near Verbis’ oldest sister. He attended school in Opelousas, but his real dream was to enter the seminary since he felt a calling to the priesthood. So, on that wonderful 1926 spring morning he told his church pastor of his desire.
His Studies and Ordination
The pastor agreed to help, and following a meeting with Verbis and his mother, Father A. B. Colliard arranged for the young man to enter St. Joseph’s Minor Seminary in St Benedict, Louisiana. In 1927 he began his studies at St. Joseph’s and during 11 years there and at Notre Dame Major Seminary in New Orleans, never seemed to have any doubt about his vocation.
During his days at the seminary, because of his thick South Louisiana accent, Verbis was known as “Frenchy.” He was famous for his “joie de vivre,” good humor, and ready wit, which surfaced during recreational walks through the piney woods of St. Benedict. Intelligent and active, he fit in well with the other teenage seminarians. He was hard to beat in baseball, basketball and tennis, and even more formidable when the competition was held on the scholastic field.
Lafleur especially enjoyed French military history. With dramatic eloquence, Verbis would recite the last words of Marshall Michel Ney (1769-1815), his favorite French soldier hero: “Come see how a soldier dies in battle, but he dies not.”
Following his ordination, Father Joseph Verbis Lafleur celebrated his first solemn high mass at St. Landry Catholic Church in Opelousas, his home parish, on April 5, 1938. He was sent to St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in Abbeville, LA as assistant pastor soon after.
Not long after he was ordained, Father Lafleur asked his bishop for permission to join the army as a chaplain. His first request was denied, but he was persistent and asked again. This time the bishop approved. So, while still in Abbeville he joined the Army Air Corps in 1941. This was nearly a half-year before the United States became involved in World War II.
A Military Chaplain
“I hope they send me to the farthest away places,” he said to his pastor. And to his mother he said he was volunteering for the service because the other men, those being drafted, “do not have a choice.”
Father Lafleur was assigned to a unit at Albuquerque, New Mexico, in July 1941. Four months later the unit, the 19th Bombardment Group, arrived at Clark Field, some 60 miles from Manila in the Philippine Islands.
His life at that time wasn’t always easy. In fact, in November 1941, the Chaplain wrote to his sister Edna Lafleur Delery admitting, “When I go back to Louisiana, I don’t think I’ll ever leave it again. I guess that after this stretch I will have done my share and more. But I really am not sorry that I entered the army. I am not sorry we came here.”
That was one of the last letters his family ever received from him. A week after it was written, Pearl Harbor and Clark Field were attacked. Verbis Lafleur faced his greatest challenges during and after that attack. His life changed forever on December 8, 1941. He was on Clark Field on that date when the Japanese attacked.
A Prisoner of War
After the attack, the 19th Bombardment Group was ordered to be transferred. Father Lafleur was among those being evacuated by ship. Again, Japanese planes attacked. Seeing a wounded officer on deck, Father crawled over to drag the man to safety. As their ship neared a small island, the soldiers began to jump into lifeboats. Chaplain Lafleur wouldn’t leave until he was sure all the men were in the boats. Father helped them all to board, then he jumped into the water and swam to one of the small crafts. When offered an opportunity to return to the States, Father Lafleur refused, saying “I shall stay here. My place is with the men.”
When the bombardment group fell into enemy hands, Chaplain Verbis Lafleur became a prisoner of war. Still, he was a priest. While he had the bread and wine, he could offer the Sacrifice of the Mass; and while he still had clothes on his back, he could give a more needy man something to wear. His watch and eyeglasses were traded off to obtain medicine. Even the little bit of soup and rice he was allotted was shared with the sick and wounded prisoners.
Father Lafleur was always doing things to keep the morale of the men positive. One of his boys wrote to Mrs. Lafleur, his mother in Opelousas, that when the men were at Davoa, Father Lafleur built a chapel “with his own hands.” He called it the “Chapel of St. Peter in Chains.” Many soldiers, both Catholic and non-Catholic, attended the services.
One day the Japanese captors announced to the prisoners the beginning of a new project. Seven hundred fifty laborers would be chosen from among the prisoners of war to clear jungle land on the island. Chaplain Lafleur traded places with one of the men chosen for the job. After all, he told the others, the men would need a priest.
Before he left for the project, Father wrote a note to his family. Written on the back of a label from a can of milk, it would be his final message. He gave the message to a Father Kennedy and said, “If we both return to the states, send it back to me. If I do not return, please send it to my mother.”
The message read: “Dear Momma and all. I have just had a long conference with Chaplain Brown (the head Chaplain at the camp) and he is letting me go on the LaSang work detail. Momma, ever since I’ve heard about this detail, I’ve had a feeling that something would happen and that a Chaplain should go. I’ve tried and tried to get this out of my head, but it is constantly there, and I feel that I should go. I do not have to go, but if I didn’t and something would happen, I would never go back to the States as I could never face any of you again. I would feel as though I had not done my duty. So that is why I am going. And it won’t be many more years before there will be two of us at the Alter. On that day, if I am here, I will give him my blessing. And if I am not, I will be with you anyway and I will have a reserve seat up in Heaven. I am sure Our Lord will let me roll back just one little cloud so I can look down. And from up there I will have a more beautiful view and a more perfect understanding of what is going on. So, until that day, may God bless all of you. Love, Verbis.”
Father Verbis became a part of the work detail the next morning. The work progressed for a time until new orders came from Japan. The prisoners would have to be relocated. Seven hundred fifty men—hungry, over-worked, and nearly naked—were crammed into the hold of a Japanese ship which set sail for the land of the rising sun.
Three weeks later, the ship was accidently torpedoed by an American submarine. The American POW’s would have been trapped, with no hope of escape, but a kind Japanese officer hurried to open the door of the hold. The excited Americans urged their chaplain to climb the ladder to freedom. They yelled for him to hurry to get out. He refused. Instead, he remained near the door to help others up the ladder. He could not know how few of the men would survive the short swim to shore. Only eighty Americans made it safely to land, and they are the ones who drew the final picture of their young chaplain, standing near the ladder to help others escape.
That day was September 7, 1944, and it was the last time he was seen. It was some time before news of his fate reached the Lafleur family in Opelousas.
Lafleur Family Learns of His Death
On November 2, 1944, members of the Lafleur family gathered at the family home on West Grolee Street to tell his mother of his death. Before they could say anything, she said, “It’s Verbis, he is dead, isn’t he?” She said she knew because her pine tree died about September 7th, the very day the ship carrying the young priest went down.
The Pine Tree with Roses
That pine tree was special to Mrs. Lafleur. She brought the tree back from St. Joseph’s Seminary in St. Benedict, LA on her first visit to see Verbis in 1927. She planted it right outside her window where she could see it every day. With time, the pine tree grew as tall as the house and, over the years, the climbing red roses planted nearby grew to the top of the tree. So, the pine tree covered with red roses was a sight to behold. In the mind of Mrs. Lafleur, it stood symbolic of her son’s work in the priesthood. During the dark days after her son became a POW, she prayed constantly for Chaplain Lafleur and “the soldier boys.” When not working she would sit in her chair by the window reciting her rosary and staring at the pine tree near the window. Then, suddenly, on September 7th it was dead. She knew something was wrong when she noticed the dried-up branches of the pine tree and the dead rose vine.
Memorial Services, Remembrances and Awards
In 1945, Verbis Lafleur’s classmates, family members and friends gathered in Ville Platte, LA, the place of his birth, for a memorial service in his honor. In 1946, The Knights of Columbus in Opelousas held a celebration in memory of Father Lafleur, including a parade that marched from the St. Landry Parish Courthouse in downtown to the St. Landry Catholic Church where a special mass was celebrated. Father Lafleur was a member of this Knights of Columbus council, joining in January of 1938 just prior to his ordination to the priesthood. He later joined the Knights of Columbus in Abbeville, LA, where he served as Assistant Pastor at the Catholic Church.
There would be other remembrances and awards for Father Lafleur through the years including a very special honor in Washington, DC. On May 21, 1989, the life of the young chaplain was again celebrated at the dedication of the Chaplain’ Hill Monument at Arlington National Cemetery. The monument honors Father Lafleur and other Catholic Military Chaplains who gave their lives during World War II, The Korean War and the Vietnam Conflict. Another monument to the memory of Father Lafleur was dedicated on September 7, 2007, the 63rd anniversary of his death, on the grounds of the St. Landry Catholic Church in Opelousas, his hometown.
But perhaps the most significant service held in honor of Father Lafleur was the one at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was there on November 27, 1951, that his mother, his classmates, fellow Notre Dame Alumni, Lafleur family members and friends gathered once again, this time for the dedication of a bronze plaque in his memory. The inscription reads in French, “Venez voir comment meurt un pretre en bataille …mais il ne meurt pas.” “Come, see how a priest dies in battle, but he dies not.” Today visitors to Notre Dame Seminary will find that plaque, plus an additional one dedicated to his memory on October 13, 2021. They commemorate the selfless sacrifice of Father Joseph Verbis Lafleur of Opelousas, Louisiana.
A Cause Towards Sainthood
In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in Father Lafleur’s story. Guided by Richard and Carrol Lafleur, a group was formed several years ago to gather information regarding the life of the young priest and to investigate favors granted.
As a result of their work, in 2007 a monument to Father Lafleur was installed on the grounds of the St. Landry Catholic Church and on October 17, 2017, Father Lafleur was awarded a second Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest military award given for extraordinary heroism.
On January 11, 2020, Diocese of Lafayette Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel announced Father Lafleur was one of three area citizens whose lives were being investigated to have them possibly recognized as the first from our area to become saints. The Cause for Canonization of Lt. Fr. Joseph Verbis LaFleur was officially opened by Bishop Douglas Deshotel of the Diocese of Lafayette on September 5, 2020. In 2021 he became a Servant of God. The Beautification process is currently on-going.
Joseph Verbis Lafleur was a man of great compassion and understanding, a man of bravery and courage eager to give all for his God and his country, and he distinguished himself many times during the horrid days of the second World War. He was a man, a priest, and a soldier, but most of all, he was a hero.
More Information
To learn more about Father Lafleur, read the following: “Man Among Men” by Newell Schindler and Edna Lafleur Delery, published in 1965; “The Roses Have Crossed To The Other Side Of The Wall” by Edna Lafleur Delery, published in 1979 and 1991; and “But He Dies Not”, by Peter J. Guerra and Suzanne Doré Guerra, published in 2010 by Friends of Father Joseph Verbis Lafleur, L.L.C.
Visit the Friends of Lt. Father Joseph Verbis Lafleur FB group page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/509914312967256/
