Military Veteran Values Freedom
BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting Writer
Robert Doucet has observed firsthand the price of sustaining individual freedom.
Doucet, a 95-year-old Opelousas native and U.S. military combat veteran involved in three wars, spoke about his experiences as a World War II peacekeeper and later as an infantry rifleman Monday morning during his brief visit to the St. Landry Parish Veterans Memorial.
Albert Doucet, the twin brother of Robert Doucet, was killed in action when both men were serving during the Korean War.
“The cost of freedom is always going to be high. The cost of freedom is blood,” said Doucet, who completed more than 30 years of military service after ending a couple of tours in Vietnam.
Doucet, now a Californian, grew up in Opelousas.
When he reached age 16 in 1945, Doucet completed stateside training and was subsequently shipped over to Japan, where he assisted with the occupation of Hiroshima following the conclusion of World War II.
“I went into the military early along with my twin brother. I really didn’t think I was going to live past 25.. In Japan I got to see (General Douglas) MacArthur and then again when I was in Korea,” Doucet said.
Douct figured he would be discharged after his service in Japan, but that didn’t happen.
Instead his military career was extended several years after he and his twin brother were sent to Korea during the early stages of that conflict.
“By the time I thought I would be leaving, the Korean War had already started. I got into combat over there. I was with the First Calvary and the 24th infantry,” Doucet recalled.
According to U.S. military records, the U.S. Army 24th Infantry Division experienced 3,735 killed in action and another 7,395 wounded in Korea, where it was placed in frontline duty.
The First Cavalry Division arrived in Korea in 1950. In Vietnam, the First Calvary was an airmobile unit, records indicate.
Although he would later experience more combat in Vietnam, Doucet, who earned a Purple Heart and other numerous military honors, thinks the battles he fought in Korea were the most intense.
“That’s where I got wounded the most,” Doucet noted.
Doucet noticed that the intensity of the Vietnam War was quite different than the level of fighting that he experienced in Korea.
“By that time I qualified as an expert marksman, but just about everyone was too. The difference I found (between Korea and Vietnam) was all the high explosives that were going off in the Vietnam War,” added Doucet.
After he left the military, Doucet worked for the U.S. Postal Service. He retired when he was 90.
The current visit Doucet made to the Veterans Memorial coincided with a family reunion.
Doucet was accompanied during the Memorial visit on Monday by his daughter Dr. Roberta Doucet, of Los Angeles, niece Cheryl Doucet Cain and Nettie R. Dusette, both of Opelousas.