Hometown Heroes - Lenny Benoit
World War II veteran
LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - Lenny Benoit was born on Choupique Rd. in Carlyss back in 1922 and had to drop out of school in the 9th grade to help his family grow rice. Years later, he was drafted into World War II.
“It was the 2nd Combat Cargo group of the Air Force. We hauled supplies to the front lines.”
Benoit found himself serving in the Pacific on islands like the Philippines, New Guinea, Leyte, Luzon and Okinawa.
“You were either in the front or the rear. I was in the rear most of the time, but a couple of times I got in the front and that wasn’t worth a durn.”
Toward the end of the war, Benoit remembers flying to Japan and seeing the destruction of Tokyo.
“It was flattened. There was a place about a quarter of a block maybe surrounded by a fence showing what the Americans had done. They tore half of Tokyo up. Wasn’t good.”
He and his fellow crew members were thrilled when they heard the war had ended.
“And then we heard that, boy we got excited. We hunted us up something to drink. There was a beer joint that served it. We got us a few of those hot beers and drank them.”
Later Benoit worked at the shipyard in Orange and started a popular dance band, The Rhythm Kings. He will turn 101 on December 4, 2023.
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