17 November 2025
By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer
On November 17, New Orleans resident and Navy veteran George Etienne, who served his country bravely in World War II, turns 100 years old.
Born in New Roads, Louisiana, Etienne grew up in a family with 12 siblings and half-siblings. He lived through the Great Depression, which he described as “hard times.” He was drafted by the military in 1944, and served in the Pacific Theater, traveling to many different islands the U.S. seized from Japanese control. He worked from the Adak Island military base.
At the time, Etienne was fighting for a country where he was denied basic civil rights, as were all Black people in the era. Etienne said some people at the time said Jim Crow policies and attitudes were a Southern thing, but Etienne said it happened across the country. He knew Black people who moved to Chicago only to be faced with similar discrimination. When stationed in San Diego, he saw a theater with a “colored” section.
“If that’s not Jim Crow, I don’t know what is,” Etienne said.
After the war, the mistreatment of Black people remained. Etienne recalled visiting a nightclub in Baton Rouge. Ten local police officers barged into the club, and one pressed a gun into the back of his head while another hurled racial epithets at him. Finally, one officer said Etienne was not the man they were looking for and the officers left. But the mistreatment remained in Etienne’s memory.
“They (the Baton Rouge police) used the same tactics the Gestapo used,” Etienne said.
Etienne remained in the reserves after the war, and tried his hand at different professions. He worked in a cafeteria; he did manual labor in the fields. But he eventually used the GI Bill to learn the building trade. He later moved to New Orleans and became a “wall specialist.”
Along the way, Etienne met his wife Rosalie, and he had seven children with her. Now, he does not just have grandchildren, he also has great grandchildren and great great grandchildren.
“Oh Lord, I can’t count ‘em all,” Etienne said with a laugh.
Despite fighting for his country overseas, Etienne said he was not able to cast a vote for the first time until 1964 because of Jim Crow laws. While racism still exists in the United States, Etienne has seen the country make genuine strides on that front.
“I feel good about the progress we’ve made,” Etienne said.
Now long retired, Etienne passes his days by spending time with his family, reading and watching television. He enjoys reading the Bible and various history books. On television, he likes watching football, boxing and wrestling.
When asked what he had planned for his 100th birthday celebration, Etienne laughed.
“Just trying to live, that’s all I have planned,” Etienne said.
This article originally published in the November 17, 2025 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.