Podcast investigates 1972 shooting at Southern University; how Louisiana’s ‘Frenchies’ provided valuable language skills win WWII
Description
On Nov. 16, 1972, police officers shot and killed two Southern University students, Denver Smith and Leonard Brown, during a peaceful college protest. The shooting and its ripple effects are the subject of a new investigative podcast called Bitter Jaguar.
It’s written, produced and hosted by Gulf States Newsroom reporter Drew Hawkins and stems from an investigation from the LSU Cold Case Project — a class for students at the Manship School of Mass Communication. He spoke with WRKF’s Karen Henderson about the five-part series.
Monday was Veterans Day, and this week on Louisiana Considered, we are diving into the state’s military history and the contributions of its servicemen and women.
Earlier this week, we brought you a conversation on Black military history at Southern University and other HBCUs, and today we are exploring the story of the Frenchies. While many French-speaking Cajun servicemen were outcast as children, their bilingual abilities gave them a powerful tool during World War II. They translated documents, deciphered messages, and spoke directly to French-speaking Europeans.
Jason Theriot is the author of the three-volume book, “To Honor Our Veterans: An Oral History of World War II Veterans From the Bayou Country.” More recently, he’s released “The Frenchie Podcast,” that dives into their individual contributions. He joins us now for more.
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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Adam Vos. Our managing producer is Alana Schrieber. We get production support from Garrett Pittman and our assistant producer Aubry Procell.
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