Abandoned Airman

Left to ruins on the side of the road in the north end of Beaumont, along with other rapidly deteriorating graves that proclaim persons buried there are “gone but not forgotten,” veteran Prentice Broussard and his service to the country are far from remembered.

Now interred under a constant barrage of cast-off cigar wrappers and alcohol containers just off the Gill Street roadway near Martin Elementary School on Pine Street, Broussard sits in the middle of a city that has no recollection of his service to the country. A search for Broussard’s relatives proved in vain, as has any records of the life of a man who likely died as a hero in service at a time when veterans and their sacrifice were ill-regarded. Even now, it appears, Broussard has found no “welcome home.”

From the few words drilled into stone regarding the life of Prentice Broussard, we know that he was little more than two months shy of 32 years old when he took his last breath. From the date of his death, and the advanced rank of Airman 2nd Class held in the U.S. Air Force in May 1968, it is likely that Broussard lost his life while away at war – considering this being a height of war. As detailed in the recordings of the History Division of the U.S. Air Force, Broussard’s branch of military “provided tremendous and diverse contributions in Vietnam, beginning as advisors in the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group in the 1950s and ending with large bombing operations in the early 1970s,” a little more than two years after Broussard’s death.

During the years of Broussard’s service to the Air Force, airmen like the Beaumont veteran “took on a more active role,” the record details, especially under the 1965 - 1968 “Operation Rolling Thunder,” where USAF losses surpassed 531 aircraft and 547 airmen. Additionally, approximately 800 men – most of them Air Force and Navy aviators – were taken captive, sometimes while offering essential support services such as aeromedical flights, pararescue, air sea rescue, medical patient evacuation and supply runs.

Veterans Day, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham urges, is a time to remember those who have served; it is an opportunity to celebrate the selflessness of our fellow Americans; and it is a time to look back and never forget men like Prentice Broussard, whose grave is all but reclaimed by the forestry that has already taken over the headstones of those nearby.

Veterans Day flag placement will occur at Veterans Cemeteries throughout the state, courtesy of the Veterans Land Board; but, as Buckingham asked for patriots to come forward, “Volunteers are encouraged to participate at a cemetery near them” – or, in the case of A2C Prentice Broussard, under a pile of trash on the side of the road in Beaumont.