EMILINE "DOUCE" BOURGEOIS - OLDEST WOMAN MILITARY VETERAN IN LOUISIANA

Emiline Anne Bourgeois enlisted in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps on Feb. 10, 1945, a week after the U.S. 6th Army invaded Luzon island in the Philippines intent on liberating Manila from the Japanese. About six months later, she was there nursing wounded soldiers.

A Thibodaux native, she served her country through the end of World War II in the Philippines and a post-war, overseas assignment in occupied Germany.

She served stateside through the Korean War and the beginning of the Vietnam War era.

Bourgeois was honorably discharged as a major on Jan. 31, 1962, a rank few women attained back then.

Douce is an old friend and distant cousin. Two years ago, we celebrated her 100th birthday with family and friends. The picture to the right shows Douce with her sister Cora Lee at her birthday party at a local restaurant.  Douce will be 102 years old on on Christmas Eve of this year.

Douce receiving communion from a lay minister dressed in her uniform, which is still a perfect fit.

Douce and I are related through the two brothers pictured in their Confederate uniforms. On the left is Paulin Adrien Ledet, Douce's grandfather, and on the right is François Amedee Ledet, my great-great-grandfather.

HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY, 'DOUCE'!

From WWLTV:


Yesterday, Grandpère and I attended a luncheon in honor of Emiline Bourgeois, who is featured in the video. Major Emiline Bourgeois, USA (Ret.) will be 100 years old on Christmas Eve. Emiline (or 'Douce', as her family and friends call her) is a friend and distant relative of mine. Douce's mother, 'Bijou', and my grandmother, Aimée, were cousins and good friends. They'd visit back and forth between Thibodaux and New Orleans, sometimes for a month or so, because travel wasn't easy back in the day.

We enjoyed a lovely luncheon yesterday, arriving a little late, after first going to the wrong restaurant - the story of our lives, and more so as we grow older.

Below is the honoree getting ready to sip her tea.

Douce is pictured below with her younger sister Cora Lee, who is a mere 95 years old. The family has good genes. Their mother lived to be 93, I believe, and their father, Emile, lived to be 99. He made a wonderful vegetable garden until well into his 90s, with not a weed to be seen. His secret to a long life was, 'Work hard, and don't worry'...words to live by surely.

The gathering at the long table of members of the party, with a few missing from the picture. You recognize Grandpère's bald pate at the far end of the table.

The youngest member of the party with an early Christmas present, which happens to be a bunny.

And a good time was had by all. In the spring, family members from all over the country will gather for a crawfish boil, which will be another birthday celebration for Douce.