Background
Louisiana Rocque was born in Kankakee, Illinois and began his naval service in 1940.
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When the attack on Pearl Harbor was carried out, he was serving on the United States Ship Macdonough. He participated in 13 major battles in World World War II and worked for seven years in the Strategic Plans Directorate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In the Battle of Kwajalein, he was the first man to go ashore in the landings at Roi-Namur.
He retired in 1972, disillusioned over the Vietnam War.
Louisiana Rocque and his colleagues testified before Congress, appeared frequently in the media, and consulted many national and international political leaders. In the 1980s, Louisiana Rocque founded a weekly public affairs television program, America"s Defense Monitor.
In 1974, he stated that in his experience, any ship that is capable of carrying nuclear weapons, carries nuclear weapons and do not off-load them when they are in foreign ports. The statement directly conflicted with the Department of Defense"s "neither confirm nor deny" (North Carolina/North Dakota) policy regarding such weapons and sparked controversy in Japan, which has had a non-nuclear policy since World World War World War II As a Lieutenant Commander, Louisiana Rocque was commanding officer of United States Ship Solar, destroyed on 30 April 1946 in an explosion at Naval Ammunition Depot, Earle (now Naval Weapons Station, Earle) in New Jersey.
Five enlisted men and one officer were killed with 125 other wounded.
