Courtney, Otto, Tangipahoa and St. Helena Parish, Louisiana
File prepared by D.N. Pardue and submitted by Inez Bridges Tate.
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From "St. Helena Vets Remember World War II: Personal Interviews
With World War II Vets", published by St. Helena Historical
Association, 1995. Compiled and edited by Inez Bridges Tate and
reprinted with permission.
Otto Courney was born in the Woodland Community in Tangi-
pahoa Parish. He chuckled and said that the family did not move
but the parish line between Tangipahoa and St. Helena was changed
and they became residents of St. Helena Parish. After graduating
from Woodland High School in 1934, he worked on the farm.
Otto and Miss Lillian Turner were married in June 1938.
They are the parents of three sons.
Otto was drafted on April 12, 194(3)? (he remembers it was the
day President Roosevelt died). He reported to New Orleans along
with R.L. Kirby and others. It seems they were taking groups of
nine and one of the nine would be inducted into the Marine Corp.
R.L. was put in the Marines and Otto was assigned to the Navy.
He was sent to San Diego, California for basic training.
Here he saw Edwin Henry who was also in basic training. Assigned
to the medical corp, he was sent across country by train to West
Palm Beach, Florida. Displaying a keen sense of humor, he
likened the train to a cattle car and said it took seven days and
seven nights to make the trip. Because Otto was in the medical
corp, he was sent to a big resort hotel which was the Naval
Hospital in this area.
He remarked that special training was being conducted at
this base, preparing for the invasion of Japan. He recalls see-
ing some of the men who were training as "frog men" and how very
strenuous this training was. The trainees looked so exhausted
each day. The dropping of the Atom Bomb hastened the end of the
War and rendered the services of these men as not necessary.
With the end of the War, and as the father of three
children, Otto was discharged. He traveled to the Naval Air
Station in New Orleans where he was discharged in October 1945.
Returning to his home, he farmed for several years, then
worked as a carpenter.
Now retired and in declining health, Otto and Lillian live
quietly and enjoy their sons, two grandchildren and three great-
grandchildren. They are faithful members of Westview Baptist
Church. A vegetable garden provides plenty of vegetables for
the family. Of interest is the fact that Otto and his three
sons all graduated from Woodland High School and all have served
in the military.
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