George P. Broussard

George Patout Broussard, Sr. (September 17, 1916 – August 30, 1977), was a decorated World War II United States Army officer, the son of a United States senator, and a veterinarian from New Iberia, Louisiana, who conducted important research on the diseases anaplasmosis and brucellosis.

Broussard was born in New Iberia, the seat of Iberia Parish in the sugar-producing region of south Louisiana, to Senator Edwin Sidney Broussard, I, and the former Marie C. Patout. He was also a paternal nephew of U.S. Senator Robert F. Broussard of New Iberia. He was educated in Washington, D.C., New Iberia High School, and Texas A&M University in College Station, where he received his D.V.M. degree.

He was activated on June 29, 1941, as a first lieutenant, Fourth Corps (Cavalry) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was subsequently stationed in the South Pacific in New Caledonia and later in San Antonio. He was discharged on December 13, 1945, with the rank of major. He was awarded both the Bronze Star and the Asiatic Pacific Theater Ribbon in the Guadalcanal and Coral Sea campaign.

In 1946, Dr. Broussard resumed his practice of veterinary medicine in New Iberia. On June 21, 1947, he married the former Flora Therese Schwing of New Iberia, the daughter of John Elmer Schwing, an attorney and banker, and the former Anna Blanchet. The couple had six sons: George P., Jr. (born 1949), Edwin S., III (born 1951), Thomas S. (born 1953), Daniel S. (born 1954), Kenneth J.S. (born 1961), and Ben Jacques (born 1963).

Broussard was a member of the Boy Scouts Evangeline Council, the American and Louisiana veterinary medical associations, the Louisiana Veterinary Medical Board of Examiners, the Iberia Cattleman's Association, and the Attakapas Historical Association.

Dr. Broussard was a member of St. Peter's Catholic Church in New Iberia. He died in New Iberia and is interred in the Holy Family Cemetery Mausoleum there.

References

"George Patout Broussard", A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, Vol. 1 (1988), p. 114