The Journey of Kelvin J. Cochran: Shreveport’s First African-American Fire Chief
Civil Rights Shreveport, LA Fire chief Born in Shreveport to George and Jane Houston Cochran, Kelvin was six when his father died. The family moved from Alameda Terrace Projects to Brooks Street and Rearsnow Street. At age five, he joined Galilee Baptist Church, where he is still a member. Kelvin recalls sleeping with all his […]
Lieutenant Commander Jackson B. Davis: WWII Codebreaker
Lieutenant Commander U. S. Navy WWII US Military Dates of Service: 07/14/1941 – 01/1946 Codebreaker, 14th Naval District Headquarters “I hailed a cab; it took me on out to Pearl, where the war was started,” recalls Jackson Davis. He was born near LeCompte, Louisiana. After finishing law school, Jackson entered the service, received his commission, […]
Louis & Rose Van Thyn: A Story of Holocaust Survival and Resilience
This couple saw the worst of World War II as Jewish prisoners in Nazi death camps. Louis and Rose were both born in Amsterdam. Rose’s immediate family, including her first husband, died in the Holocaust. As a young, healthy woman, she was sent to Auschwitz, where scientists used her in medical experiments. Louis also was […]
The Remarkable Journey of Harold Terry: WWII Veteran to Elected Sheriff
PFC U. S. Marines WWII US Military Dates of Service: 08/12/1943 – 11/30/1945 Rifleman, 22nd Marine Regiment Harold was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, as one of three sons of Edwin Bryant Terry and Lola DeSpain Terry. His parents divorced when he was two years old. His father’s alimony and the boys’ odd jobs supported the […]
The Inspiring Story of Allen Dean: Artist and WWII Veteran
2LT U. S. Army WWII US Military Dates of Service: 09/16/1942 – 11/27/1945 AA Automatic Weapons Unit Commander, 531 AAA (AW) BN, 30th Infantry Division Allen was born at home in Colfax, Louisiana, one of three children of Preston Allen Dean, Sr., and Addie Swafford Dean. While his father raised cattle, maintained a peach orchard, […]
The Remarkable Journey of Lloyd Lenard: WWII Communications Officer
U.S. Navy WWII US Military Dates of Service: 10/01/1942 – 05/18/1946 Communications Officer He was born on a tenant farm in Ouachita Parish, “so far out in the country from West Monroe they had to pipe sunshine to us,” he quips. Lloyd describes his father, James Edward Lenard, a locomotive engineer, as “a handsome womanizer” […]