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re: French Speaking Cajun Soldiers in WWII...
Posted on 11/23/19 at 10:50 am to PacoPicopiedra
Posted on 11/23/19 at 10:50 am to PacoPicopiedra
You guys have some young grandfathers, both my grandfather's were World War I era.
0
Posted on 11/23/19 at 11:03 am to WWII Collector
I remember hearing one of my dads friends talking about this subject one night on his shrimp boat.
He said the French he spoke was definitely different but posed no real issue with communication. He spoke glowingly of the French people. He had become very close with one French family. He said he had gone back to France to visit this family. I’m pretty sure they had come over here to visit him also.
He said the French he spoke was definitely different but posed no real issue with communication. He spoke glowingly of the French people. He had become very close with one French family. He said he had gone back to France to visit this family. I’m pretty sure they had come over here to visit him also.
Posted on 11/23/19 at 12:53 pm to blueboy
Yes Cajun French And French are worlds apart so it’s not surprising to think that
Posted on 11/23/19 at 12:56 pm to Cold Drink
Posted on 11/23/19 at 2:48 pm to WWII Collector
I was born in Ayoylles Parish and learned French from my parents. My father, Gustave Gremillion, served in France in WWI and, according to family legend, translated for his unit. He received orders to go to the front on Armistice Day, probably the reason I'm here!
Posted on 11/23/19 at 3:43 pm to WWII Collector
My dad was in the 2nd Battalion 156 Infantry. Even though he did not speak french he was trained to be an M.P. That put him and others in place to communicate with french speaking North Africa.
My research indicates the rest of the 156th went to Normandy. I'd say being in the 2nd Battalion helped him even though North Africa, Sicily, Italy and then France wasn't exactly a cushy trip.
My research indicates the rest of the 156th went to Normandy. I'd say being in the 2nd Battalion helped him even though North Africa, Sicily, Italy and then France wasn't exactly a cushy trip.
Posted on 11/23/19 at 3:53 pm to FLObserver
quote:
My grandparents would have friends over for coffee and would speak cajun french the whole time . We were so lost as to what they were saying I guess kids these days will never get that memory.
Same here. My grandparents would talk to each other in Cajun French and then seamlessly switch to English to talk to us. Funny how they could do that so easily.
Posted on 11/23/19 at 3:55 pm to WWII Collector
Awesome, I know my grandfather (pawpaw) did some translating in France during the war. I have his autobiography and I'm going to see what he said about it, though I don't think it was much.
Posted on 11/23/19 at 3:55 pm to Champagne
quote:
So, I would not be surprised to see this Cajun French Revival Movement to die off one day, because this minority culture will never be protected like all of the other minorities here in the USA.
I hope you all fight to save it.
Posted on 11/23/19 at 4:09 pm to Potchafa
My grandparents & parents all speak it fluently on a regular basis. I know a lot of it but really need to learn. They are from Dupont & Plaucheville.
Posted on 11/23/19 at 4:16 pm to Oyster
quote:
He said the French he spoke was definitely different but posed no real issue with communication.
This is exactly right. It is a different dialect but not at all a hindrance communicating with one another. I remember trying to get my grandparents & parents to help me with french homework and they never could bc they never really learned how to write in french, even though it was freely spoken at home.
Posted on 11/23/19 at 6:36 pm to LSUAngelHere1
quote:
This is exactly right. It is a different dialect but not at all a hindrance communicating with one another. I remember trying to get my grandparents & parents to help me with french homework and they never could bc they never really learned how to write in french, even though it was freely spoken at home.
The documentary I saw stated that Cajun French was pretty similar to the French peasant's dialect. Also, French-Canadians were apparently not able to pass as native Frenchmen (dialect).
My Dad served in Korea, where his unit met up with a French-Canadian outfit. Naturally, he tried talking to them, but said they spoke so damn fast, he could barely understand them.
Posted on 11/23/19 at 6:39 pm to WWII Collector
I had several cousins and uncles who fought wwii and who spoke French first. They gained weight in the war while others struggled!!
They’ve all passed now though
They’ve all passed now though
Posted on 11/23/19 at 7:00 pm to WWII Collector
Not WWII but interesting...
Years ago I knew a guy from Crowley who served in Vietnam during the early years. He was assigned to an intelligence group and helped with interrogations because he spoke French. Once known as French Indonesia, lots of the Vietnamese people spoke and understood French. He had lots of interesting stories....
Years ago I knew a guy from Crowley who served in Vietnam during the early years. He was assigned to an intelligence group and helped with interrogations because he spoke French. Once known as French Indonesia, lots of the Vietnamese people spoke and understood French. He had lots of interesting stories....
Posted on 11/24/19 at 11:32 am to crawfishcharlie
quote:
Once known as French Indonesia, lots of the Vietnamese people spoke and understood French.
Which is why a number of Catholic, French-speaking Vietnamese settled in south Louisiana.
Posted on 11/24/19 at 5:56 pm to WWII Collector
“Meh I jus shot me a coupla Japs dis morning, yea !”
Posted on 11/24/19 at 6:23 pm to Champagne
quote:
We'll be lucky if they don't kill it off again some day. Just read this board and you'll clearly see that, here in the USA and particularly the South, everything French is pretty much ridiculed and denigrated. Just mention the word "France" and the automatic reply is "cowardly surrender monkeys who surrendered to the Germans after six weeks of war". The French have always been cowards, they always throw down their weapons in battle and run away. And the most well-known Frenchman is PePe LePew.
So, I would not be surprised to see this Cajun French Revival Movement to die off one day, because this minority culture will never be protected like all of the other minorities here in the USA.
Great point. The French were badasses up through the 1800s, then a mediocre showing in WWI and then WWII...
You hear a lot of people say they are Italian Amerian, Irish American, etc. I've never heard "I'm French American." Very poor leadership in WWII.
Posted on 11/24/19 at 6:41 pm to blueboy
quote:
I've heard stories that Cajun soldiers were thought of as hicks by the French
From an expert in the subject I knew well:
Parisian French > The rest of France >> Quebec >>> Cajun.
Posted on 11/24/19 at 6:48 pm to Tigris
quote:
Parisian French > The rest of France >> Quebec >>> Cajun.
Makes sense if you are a Parisian. I would doubt many people know other
cities in France off the top of their heads.
Posted on 11/24/19 at 6:57 pm to KJS
quote:
The Exxon at the Henderson exit used to have a group of older men meet every morning in the cafe area for coffee and breakfast. They would all converse in Cajun French. I would order a biscuit and coffee and listen to them. Two years of French in college and I hardly ever understood a word they were saying.
We used to fish from Delacroix and there were still a lot of old guys speaking Cajun French. My wife could understand them but didn't let on. She'd give us the scoop after we left a place. Usually pretty harsh stuff about us; fair enough. Once getting called the "only decent fisherman" of the group by our Cajun guide was pretty big for the ego, though. The wif was amused by it.
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