World War Two Chaplain Hero Father Joseph Verbis Lafleur Receives Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Father Joseph Verbis Lafleur, a Catholic U.S. Army Air Corps Chaplain in World War II, posthumously received the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart in a ceremony on Tuesday, Oct. 17, in Opelousas, LA. Congressman Ralph Abraham, M.D., (R-LA), presented the two military medals to Father Lefleur’s nephew and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Lefleur, at Saint Landry Catholic Church, where the priest celebrated his first Mass following ordination in 1938. The Most Reverend J. Douglas Deshotel, Bishop of Lafayette, LA, and Father James Brady, pastor of Saint Landry Parish, participated in the ceremony along with other dignitaries, devout Catholics, and students from Opelousas Catholic Junior High and High Schools.