Eugene Anthony Bordelon was born on March 22, 1917 in Marksville, Louisiana. He was the son of Oscar C. Bordelon and Corine Desselles Bordelon. Eugene served with the 654th Tank Destroyer Batallion which was attached and reattached to various units in WWII. They were mainly attached to the 35th Division of the United States- Patton's 3rd Army.

The 654th Tank Destroyer Battalion entered France at Omaha Beach a few days after D-Day. They moved on St. Lo where fighting was intense and the Regiment encountered many casualties. The Battalion moved across France through Torigni Sur Vire, Amebacq, Louvigue, Le Mans, Chateau De Dierville, Montargis, Joigny, Toul, and many other towns. On September 15, 1944, they liberated the town of Nancy, France.

On May 23, 1945, he was aboard the C-46D (4-77507) which was taking 41 American soldiers that were ill, injured, or repatriated prisoners of war to hospitals in the Paris, France area and was then eventually going to take them all back to the United States. This flight occurred after Germany's surrender on May 7, 1945. However this C-46, for unknown reasons, developed a fire in one of it's two engines and crashed near the village of Taillefontaine, near Paris. All men aboard were killed in the crash. Pvt Bordelon died at the age of 28 and is now buried at the Saint Joseph Catholic Cemetery And Mausoleum #1, Marksville, Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com