UPDATED WITH STORY: Streets 'co-named' for heroic veterans

Linda Webster hadn’t yet married the young officer she watched go off to fight in the Vietnam War. But she soon learned things that even his parents, Joseph and Audrey Webster of Morgan City, didn’t know.
“It was difficult,” Linda Webster said Monday, “because he would tell me about all the battles, but he didn’t tell them.”
Linda Webster learned about combat and bravery. And on Monday, she and granddaughter Sophie Webster unveiled a signpost at Victor II Boulevard near Myrtle Street, honoring the military service of Linda’s late husband.
First Lt. J. Cameron Webster was the first of 10 veterans honored with co-named streets Monday by the Heroes Way Commission, a group of volunteers who set out to pay tribute to Morgan City’s veterans.
“It’s an awesome cause,” said Mayor Lee Dragna, the honorary chairman of the commission, “and awesome recognition of people you’d never, ever have known how bad they were when it comes to defending our country.”
And by bad, Dragna meant good.
The mayor’s brother, Matt Dragna, chaired the commission but couldn’t make Monday’s ceremonies at 10 different sites around town. Matt Dragna sent fellow commissioner Bryce Merrill with a message:
“The qualities that helped them excel in service to their country are the same characteristics they showed serving their community and Morgan City.”
Linda Webster learned that her fiancé had been wounded by shrapnel. Not all the danger came from combat.
The soldiers would go shirtless in the jungle heat and were sometimes sprayed with Agent Orange, the defoliant used to deny cover to the enemy. Cameron Webster died in 2018 of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which his widow believes was linked to Agent Orange.
He earned a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars for Valor, a Purple Heart and an Air Medal for participating in air operations.
Before Webster died, he built a life. He founded Twin Brothers Marine LLC with brother David and served as president of the St. Mary Chamber of Commerce, the Louisiana Shrimp Association and the National Shrimp Congress.
When he died, he was escorted to his Morgan City Cemetery resting place by fellow veterans of B Company, 18th Infantry, First Infantry Division – the Big Red One.
The other veterans honored Monday and their signpost locations are:
•TSgt George Beaugh
Seventh Street between Clothilde and Willard streets
A native of Lewisburg, he was born June 27, 1922. During World War II, he served as a flight engineer on B-17 bombers for the Eighth Air Force, stationed in England. He flew 31 missions over Europe.
He received the Distinguished Flying Cross and five Air Medals.
Beaugh came home to Morgan City and founded the Shoe House, which he operated for 37 years. He died Aug. 27, 2018, at age 96, leaving behind Norma Stelly Beaugh, his wife of 62 years, and five children.
•Maj. John S. Blakeman
Federal Avenue and Freret Street
Born July 10, 1911, to Louis and Virginia Blakeman, he served in the Marine Corps and the military reserves.
Blakeman attended LSU, where he was a Southeastern Conference boxing champion, a football player and student body vice president.
He served in World War II and Korea before retiring from the military in 1963. He earned the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for Valor, the Army Commendation Medal and the Purple Heart. He later served as superintendent of the Morgan City Recreation Department. He died in 1966.
•First Lt. Ruth Elda Blakeman
Marguerite near Seventh streets
Born Jan. 15, 1918, to Louis and Virginia Blakeman, she graduated from Sacred Heart in 1934 and earned her nursing degree from Hotel Dieu in New Orleans in 1939.
Blakeman was an Army nurse in the European Theater during World War II.
After the war, she was a charter faculty member at Sacred Heart Elementary.
Blakeman died Aug. 12, 1999.
•Sgt William “Brad” Bradford
Federal and Railroad avenues
Born Dec. 17, 1926, to William and Alberta Bradford, he made his mark in the military and in public service in Morgan City.
He served in the Army Air Force.
Returning home, he organized the trustee board for Mount Zion Baptist Church and served as chairman and treasurer.
Bradford also served as president and treasurer of the local NAACP and received the Roy Wilkins Community Service Award for contributions to equality and justice. He was president of the Esquire Men’s Club and was active in the St. Mary Industrial Group, and also served on the Morgan City Housing Authority and the local Community Action Agency.
Bradford was the first African American to serve on the St. Mary Parish Police Jury and the first Black member of the Morgan City Council since Reconstruction.
He died Dec. 18, 2012.
•Pvt. Cornelius Brashear
Railroad Avenue at Sumpter Williams
Also known as Thomas Scott, he was born into slavery in June 1841, the son of Thomas Todd Brashear and Clarice Jones.
Freed by Union occupation troops, he enlisted in the First U.S. Colored Infantry, the Corps d’Afrique, or the First Louisiana Native Guard, during the Civil War. He served with the 73rd U.S. Colored Infantry in December 1862.
He left the service in 1865. After coming home, Brashear saved an 11-year-old from drowning.
Brashear died Sept. 17, 1922, in Morgan City.
•Capt. Bert Chauvin
Justa Street between Allison and Roderick streets.
Born Dec. 19, 1919, to Nicholas and Julia Chauvin, the Morgan City native served with the Second Infantry and came ashore in Normandy on June 7, 1944. He saw action in the hedgerow battles immediately after the landing and at the Battle of the Bulge.
Chauvin received a Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars before coming home to work in the oilfield and shipbuilding. He played an important role in the development of the Swift Boats that saw action in Vietnam.
He died in May 2012.
•Capt. Leonard Thomas Duval
Everett and Second streets
Duval served in the Army Air Force and then the U.S. Air Force.
Born to Egbert and Ouida Duval on Nov. 9, 1922, Duval served with the 90th Attack Squadron, part of the Third Bomber Group of the Fifth Air Force in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
He was stationed at Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea, and was a member of the famed Grim Reapers.
•Lt. Col. Dale Hayes Sr.
Victor II Boulevard near Brashear Avenue
The Lake Charles native grew up in Morgan City and attended Sacred Heart.
After graduating from Holy Cross in New Orleans and attending college for a year, he enlisted in Company B of the National Guard and transitioned to the Army.
After Officer Candidate School, he embarked on a 24-year military career that included nine years overseas, including service in Vietnam and Korea. Hayes held major command positions in Europe, the Far East, Vietnam and the Pentagon.
•MSgt. John Henry Poncio
Federal Avenue and Arenz Street
Born July 21, 1918, to Henry and Louise Poncio in Morgan City, Poncio survived one of the most horrific atrocities of World War II: the Bataan Death March.
Poncio survived 3-1/2 years as a prisoner of war in the Philippines and Japan. He published a memoir, “Girocho: A GI’s Story of Bataan and Beyond.”
He retired from the military in 1953 and died Oct. 25, 1998.