John McKeithen 302nd Engineers

Is this the same man as became the Governor of Louisiana? I know he served with the 77th but his biographies only mention a couple of BSM when this individual, a Lieutenant in the 302nd Engineers, won the DSC on Okinawa! The name is pretty much a givaway but who ever heard of a politician downplaying his Army service !

 

It is possible, I suppose. Here is the Wiki on Governor McKeithen indicating he was a 1st Lt. in the 77th Infantry Division.

Here is the summary of 1st Lt. James J. McKeithen's DSC found at Home of Heroes:

Is it possible that there were two 1st Lt. James J. McKeithen's? Sure. More digging needs to be done to find out what unit in the 77th the Governor served with in WWII. Unless we have evidence to the contrary, I am inclined to assume it is two different people. It seems odd that he would "downplay" the DSC, and yet mention receiving 2 BSM.

 

Yep. That's the same info I have. A coincidence? It seems unlikely there were two identically named individuals in the same division unless they came from the same area. But equally, as we have opined, an American politician who doesn't trumpet his service overseas would be a curiosity of magnificent proportions

The DSC caption (there's no actual citation) is quite short. No details of where or for what actions he is receiving it. This excerpt from LSU alumni page identifies him with the 77th "Entering the Army in February of 1943, he became a commissioned officer in the Combat Engineers. He fought in the Pacific campaigns at Ie Shima, Guam, Leyte, and Okinawa. After the war, McKeithen returned to Caldwell Parish and the practice of law." Several bios cite exemplary service in the Pacific, and although the receipt of 2 BSMs is an example of duty above the average I am not sure it'd qualify as exemplary.

Could it have been rescinded or made up as part of a political bio?

 

I don't think that is necessarily true. First, we don't know that they are identically named because the DSC write up only gives the middle initial. Second, I have seen rosters with identically named (including rank!) men in the same company or battalion, let alone division. Of course, that does not mean it is the case here, but it does happen.

Having said that, the quote from the LSU alumni page does suggest that the Governor was in an engineer unit, which would be the 302nd.

That does bother me a little as well. It would be interesting to find out what source the HoH website used for that DSC listing. They obviously didn't have the GO since they indicate as much.

Without having Governor McKeithen's service record, the HoH source, or some other documentation of the award, one can only speculate. However, since it was apparently not used for his political bio (the only place I've seen the governor connected with the DSC is in this thread), the latter suggestion seems highly unlikely.

 

Roger that. The issue of two soldiers appearing with the same name does appear to be a feature of regiments that recruit from the same area, or where the name is a common one. Especially in units without a technical aspect to their duty, but this is an odd one, with McKeithen almost certainly being a combat engineer. As you rightly say without knowing where HoH got their information the DSC is unproven by all other the other information I have been able to find.