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| Etienne Labat served in the 400th Air Base in Alaska. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88075156/etienne-j-labat https://www.si.edu/object/nasm_A19600298000 |
Etienne J. Labat never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on September 6, 1918 in Alabama. His parents Etienne and Edith were both born in Louisiana. His father worked as a refinery laborer and later a sawmill foreman in Louisiana. Etienne had one older brother, four younger sisters, and three younger brothers. By 1940 Etienne had completed three years of high school. He was stilling living at home and worked as a truck driver and sales clerk.
He enlisted in the Army Air Forces on October 22, 1940. While stationed in Florida, he married Julia Loyette Parramore in 1943. They had a son born in February 1944.
In June 1944 he was sent to Alaska to serve in the 400th Air Base Squadron where he had the rank of first lieutenant.
Lt. Labat was killed in an airplane accident on July 24, 1944 at Attu, Alaska. He was in a UC-64 Norseman floatplane. The cause of the accident is unknown.
His grave is at Saint Joseph Cemetery and Mausoleum in Paulina, Louisiana. His widow died in 2012. I think his son is still alive.
Last year on this date I profiled P-47 pilot Marvin Leinweber. You can read about Marvin here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
he has the same name than me
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