Perrin served in three branches of service, three foreign wars

Albert Perrin wears his WWI, Korea and Vietnam veteran’s hat.

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Albert Perrin is retired from over 20 years of military service.
But what makes him unique is that during that time he served in three different branches of the armed forces and served in three different foreign wars.
He is a native of Kaplan who is married to Helen Broussard Perrin. The couple have three children, six grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren with one more on the way.
As a teenager, Albert can remember being a Boy Scout look-out in the watch towers during the early part of World War II, scanning the skies for enemy aircraft.
Those experiences and President Roosevelt’s infamy speech orated the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor on the 8th of December 1941, is what Albert cites as being the main sources of inspiration to join the armed forces.
Perrin’s military career began fresh out of high school.
In 1944, at the age of 17, Albert left Kaplan to train in a Naval training camp in San Diego, California. From there, Petty Officer Third Class Albert Perrin was shipped out to serve in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
His orders were aboard a landing ship tank which traveled from the Port of San Francisco to the Aleutian Islands, to New Caledonia, and then to Samar Island in the Philippines.
Albert recalls, “When we left the dock and passed under the Golden Gate, I remember the feeling it left me with. I wondered if I would ever return to pass under the gate again.”
Once in Samar, Albert spent eight months with the construction battalion helping to build a fleet hospital for wounded soldiers, marines, and naval personnel.
The trek across the Pacific Ocean was treacherous. The trip from the Aleutian Islands to New Caledonia took over 30 days due to the zigzag motion of the ship maneuvering to avoid dangerous minefields.
“That was a time that I was really scared,” Perrin explains. “The Japanese had put floating mines all over the Pacific. We had to keep dodging the mines, night and day. The minute we would spot one on the grid, the sailors would get a machine gun and shoot them out of the water.”
While docked at New Caledonia, Perrin’s French heritage helped set him apart from the rest of the crew.
“I heard my name being called over the speaker system to report to the bridge,” he said. “ That’s where the captain was at. They were having trouble communicating with the dock workers because they only spoke French. So I had to act as an interpreter between the captain and our crew and the dock workers.”
In 1947, the young soldier returned home to the states and was discharged. It was then that he decided to make a life out of military service.
“I knew then that I wanted to make the service my career, but I didn’t want to do it in the Navy,” said Perrin. I didn’t like sea duty too much. So I joined the Army.”
Due to his previous service, Albert was assigned to Army Intelligence as a Tech Sergeant, and he was first stationed at Arlington Hall Base in Washington D.C. with duties at the Pentagon and the N.S.A.
Even after all these years, his work is still classified, therefore he was unable to discuss his work.
Doing the same duties, he was then sent to Germany for three years where he participated in the Nazi War Crime Trials in Nuremberg as a guard.
“I have some pictures of the trials,” said Perrin.
“I was also able to take a pass to see Hitler’s hideout in Berchtesgaden. I also had the opportunity to experience in person the 1948 Winter Olympic Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland. These Olympic games were the first games in 12 years due to war.”
Albert was also in Germany during the time of the infamous Berlin Airlift.
After his duration in Germany, he served a six month temporary tour of duty during the Korean Conflict.
From the late 1949 through early 1950, Perrin was aboard a communications ship stationed in the Sea of Japan.
Once back in the Washington D.C. area, he was assigned to the National Security Agency, until his discharge from the Army in 1951.
It was when Albert was home in Kaplan, on leave during his six years of services with the Army, that he met his wife Helen.
“I went to the Baptist Church in Kaplan and the minute I saw her I just said to myself, she’s the one for me!”
“I saw her standing by the piano with some of the other girls, and from that time on I made it my business to court her. We dated a few times, and we got engaged. We married in 1951. After that I was able to have my family with me in Washington D.C., Japan, San Antonio, and Massachusetts.”
After his discharge from the Army, Albert tried his hand at civilian life for almost six years. During that time, he was involved with the Louisiana National Guard and also found employment in the oil field.
In 1957, with eight years of service under his belt, he decided to join the United States Air Force and work towards retirement in the service.
Upon enlisting, he was originally assigned to England Air force Base in Alexandria, Louisiana where he was a computer operator.
“In those days computers were big,” he recounted, “and it took a big building to put them in!”
The Air Force was quick to reassign him as a Tech Sergeant working for the Air Force Security Service at their headquarters in San Antonio, Texas.
From there, he and his family were sent to Japan for three years where he continued to serve the Air Force Security Services.
Once his missions were completed, it was back to San Antonio for a year-and-a-half stay.
It was after that period that Albert served a tour of duty in the Vietnam War during the Tet Offensive of 1968.
Once his return from Vietnam, Albert was stationed in Hanscom Field, Massachusetts, assigned to an Air Force communications center. This is where he remained for the rest of his term until he retired on January 1st of 1970.
Perrin received a total of 11 medals total for his services including medals for National Defense, Good Conduct, Expert Marksmanship Medal and his service in World War II and Vietnam.
Upon returning home to Kaplan in 1970, Albert spent 15 years working for the Army Corps of Engineers at the Freshwater Bayou Locks.
Once he retired from there, he worked as a business manager at Abrom Kaplan Memorial Hospital for five years.
It was only then that he decided to officially hang up his hat and retire from employment permanently.
Overall, Albert enjoyed his life in the military.
“Being in the service is like holding any other job,” said Perrin. “You have a job to do, and you do it.”
Like many veterans of past foreign wars, Albert feels that the real difference about the Iraqi war today is the fact that the enemy is not as well defined.
“In World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, you knew your enemy. They had a different uniform on, but you knew your enemy. Nowadays, they wear a bag over their heads and you can’t tell them apart – they’re all dressed alike. They are terrorists. It’s hard to fight a war like that when you don’t know your enemy. My youngest son served in Iraq and I was really worried about him when he served.”
Today at the age of 80, Perrin enjoys his civilian life with his family.
In fact, he and his wife just celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary in September.
He is still active in his community and reiterates, “I am proud to be an American and grateful to Louisiana for recently honoring World War II veterans by sending us to the World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. this year.”