Restoring the memories of a local veteran

April 08-- Apr. 8--One day, World War II veteran Jackson Chiasson of Bayou Blue discovered that his only material rewards for helping preserve the free world were destroyed.

Chiasson, 92, enlisted in the Coast Guard when he was 17, was assigned to a Navy ship and eventually earned the World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic Pacific Theater Medal with three service stars and the Philippine Liberation Medal with two service stars.

Those medals met an inglorious fate in Chiasson's uninsulated attic, where they were the victims of time and the elements, and Chiasson's wish to be buried with them was suddenly gone.

Lafourche Parish Sheriff Reserve Lt. Tim Wisinger was having none of that.

Wisinger is an amateur World War II historian who, among other things, helps coordinate the annual Live Fire Demonstration of weapons from that era sponsored by the Regional Military Museum in Houma. He took it upon himself to have the medals, the physical evidence of Chiasson's valor, restored.

"I've always been a big admirer of the World War II guys," Wisinger said. "I said, 'Maybe there's something I can do on my own.' "

After finding documentation of his ship and his medals online, Chiasson's daughter, Linda Danos, said the memories started flooding back.

"He's been telling me all kinds of stories about what happened to him," Danos said. "I told him what I found online, and he said that he'd lost all his medals."

That casual remark put the wheels in motion for the restoration of her father's most prized possessions.

Wisinger took the documentation and ordered new versions of the medals from Medals of America, a company that specializes in just this sort of restoration.

"He was all excited," Danos said. "When they had that (Live Fire Demonstration on March 16), he wore the medals on the outside of his suit jacket."

Wisinger said the effort was almost as meaningful for him as it was for Chiasson.

"I felt like it was my duty," Wisinger said. "Any citizen of the United States appreciates what those guys went through for us. It was the least I could do. That man put his life on the line at 17 years of age. It made me feel good to know that I made him happy."

-- Staff Writer Scott Yoshonis can be reached at 850-1148 or syoshonis@houmatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @Foster_Cajun.

___

(c)2019 The Houma Courier, La.

Visit The Houma Courier, La. at www.houmatoday.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.