Tag: Broussard family

“Water Fountains”

LOCATION: Shreveport, Louisiana
PERIOD: 1960s
DRAMATIS PERSONAE: Michael James “Sarge” Broussard (1948-2014); Cole Lucas “Luke” Broussard (1946-1965); Barney Ghio (1948-2019)

During Mike Broussard’s early childhood, his family lived in Shreveport, Louisiana, but later he moved to Vivian where he owned a business and lived out the remainder of his life.  The experience described in this song, when Mike was twelve years old, affected his attitude towards race relations from then on.

One of the oldest movie theaters in Shreveport was The Strand.  It had different entrances for blacks and whites and water fountains marked for the different races, as well.

During the ’60s, most southern cities had two simultaneous phenomena: demographically a significant percentage of the population was African-American (Shreveport was about 60% black) and as a consequence whites and blacks unofficially interacted a lot.  The other aspect was a policy of official segregation. This manifested itself in a myriad of ways beyond the obvious, e.g. separate drinking fountains and different entrances to movie theaters.  However, relationships between whites and blacks could be warm and friendly despite official segregation.

Into the demographic mix were other ingredients.  Louisiana had a relatively large number of Italian Americans, mostly Sicilians.  These immigrants also experienced some discrimination, and in general did not share the otherwise pervasive white attitudes about African-Americans.

When Mike Broussard served in Vietnam he met an African-American from Detroit, D.W. Washington, and they became life-long friends.  Mike and D.W. talked about their plans when their tours were over, and D.W. went back to Vivian with Mike and they operated a filling station and auto repair shop for more than forty years.  D.W. was Mike’s closest friend (see songs “Sarge“, “Mike & D.W.” and “Out on Cross Lake“).

WATER FOUNTAINS
(F. D. Leone, Jr.)

It was 1960, I was twelve years old
My brother and me went to the picture show
My mother dropped us off gave us each a dollar
To see John Wayne in “The Alamo”
Outside The Strand were two water fountains side by side
One was marked “Colored” the other one, “White”
 
I didn’t know Bobby Ghio all that well
He’d just moved to Shreveport that year
He was Sicilian, from New Orleans
And was different from the kids ‘round here
He went to the wrong fountain, he didn’t want to wait in line
My mouth was wide open, it kind of blew my mind
 
It was exceptional
Incredible
To question what we thought was unquestionable
Exceptional
Like climbing a mountain
Or just drinking from a water fountain
 
Big Mama raised three generations of Broussards
She seemed to me as old as Moses
Taught me right from wrong, and a lot of other stuff
She was black but I didn’t seem to notice
It was an age old line that Bobby Ghio crossed
But when he did it a light bulb went off
 
It was exceptional
Incredible
To question what we thought was unquestionable
Exceptional
Like climbing a mountain
Or just drinking from a water fountain
 
It was 1960, I was twelve years old
My brother and me went to the picture show

© 2019 Frank David Leone, Jr./Highway 80 Music (ASCAP). The songs and stories on the Highway 80 Stories website are works of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

“Vivian, Louisiana”

LOCATION: Vivian, Louisiana
PERIOD: 1960s
DRAMATIS PERSONAE: Michael James “Sarge” Broussard (1948-2014); D.W. Washington (1949-2011)

Home to Mike “Sarge” Broussard and D.W. Washington, Vivian is a moderately small town in Northwest Louisiana.  As is true for many small towns the people live basic lives, centered on family, work, and church.

VIVIAN, LOUISIANA
(F. D. Leone, Jr.)

Down on Pine St. folks will stop and say hello
To Sarge and D.W. at the Texaco
When Sarge lost Marie they all came by
With their fried chicken and strawberry pie
 
Big hearts in a small town
Big hearts beating on and on
Town seems bigger when they are around
Smaller when they’re gone
 
Vivian’s called the “Heart of the ArkLaTex”
Just a little town without enough paychecks
Louisiana Redbud Vivian celebrates
Every March with a parade and pancakes
 
Big hearts in a small town
Big hearts beating on and on
Town seems bigger when they are around
Smaller when they’re gone
 
Big hearts in a small town
Big hearts beating on and on
Town seems bigger when they are around
Smaller when they’re gone

© 2019 Frank David Leone, Jr./Highway 80 Music (ASCAP). The songs and stories on the Highway 80 Stories website are works of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

“Shreveport, 1963”

LOCATION: Shreveport, Louisiana
PERIOD: 1960s
DRAMATIS PERSONAE: Michael James “Sarge” Broussard (1948-2014); Cole Lucas “Luke” Broussard (1946-1965)

Mike Broussard recalls how he and his brother Luke spent summers in Shreveport during the 1960s.  Mike was 15 and Luke was 17, a few years before each would go off to fight in Vietnam.

SHREVEPORT, 1963
(F. D. Leone, Jr.)

Twenty-five cent a gallon gasoline
’53 Studebaker, three on the tree
The Kokomo drive-in onion rings
Shreveport, 1963
 
Strawberry icebox pie at Strawn’s
My big brother Luke and me
Southern Maid donuts at dawn
Shreveport, 1963
 
The radio dial was set to KEEL or KOKA
Windows down, crusin’ the streets
“Louie, Louie” and “Surfin’ USA”
Shreveport, 1963
 
The Cub drive-through liquor store
A couple of Coke’s and a pint of Jim Beam
Watchin’ the planes at the airport
Shreveport, 1963
 
My brother Luke died in ‘Nam
Time seemed to stop for me
No matter where I am
It’s Shreveport, 1963
 
The radio dial was set to KEEL or KOKA
Windows down, crusin’ the streets
“Louie, Louie” and “Surfin’ USA”
Shreveport, 1963

© 2018 Frank David Leone, Jr./Highway 80 Music (ASCAP). The songs and stories on the Highway 80 Stories website are works of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

“Out on Cross Lake”

LOCATION: Cross Lake, Shreveport, Louisiana
PERIOD: 2011
DRAMATIS PERSONAE: Michael James “Sarge” Broussard (1948-2014); D.W. Washington (1949-2011)

Mike Broussard and Jake McLemore were friends with D.W. Washington.  Today they are out at Cross Lake, just outside Shreveport, drinking, fishing, and remembering D.W. after burying their friend earlier that same day.

OUT ON CROSS LAKE
(F. D. Leone, Jr.)

Out on Cross Lake rain is fallin’ down
Out on Cross Lake rain is fallin’ down
Today we laid D.W. in the ground
Out on Cross Lake rain is fallin’ down
 
Ol’ D.W. was a pretty good guy
Ol’ D.W. was a pretty good guy
No one can tell me why he had to die
Ol’ D.W. was a pretty good guy
 
Out on Cross Lake passin’ a bottle around
Out on Cross Lake passin’ a bottle around
Today we laid D.W. in the ground
Out on Cross Lake passin’ a bottle around
 
D.W. worked for Mike forty year
D.W. worked for Mike forty year
Mike’s lookin’ in the tub for another beer
D.W. worked for Mike forty year
 
Out on Cross Lake th’ sun is goin’ down
Out on Cross Lake th’ sun is goin’ down
Today we laid D.W. in the ground
Out on Cross Lake th’ sun is goin’ down
 
Now D.W. was a good ol’ boy
Yeah D.W. was a good ol’ boy
Even if he was born in Detroit
D.W. was a good ol’ boy
 
Out on Cross Lake rain is startin’ to pour
Out on Cross Lake rain is startin’ to pour
Might as well go in, they ain’ bitin’ no more
Out on Cross Lake rain is startin’ to pour

© 20185 Frank David Leone, Jr./Highway 80 Music (ASCAP). The songs and stories on the Highway 80 Stories website are works of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

“Mike and D.W.”

LOCATION: Vivian, Louisiana; Vietnam
PERIOD: 1965-2011
DRAMATIS PERSONAE: Michael James “Sarge” Broussard (1948-2014) ; D.W. Washington (1949-2011); Marie Arceneaux (1952-1981)

Mike Broussard and D.W. Washington met and became lifelong friends during the Vietnam War. Actually, it was more than that, if not for  D.W, Mike would not have come home from Vietnam. Mike. never forgot the debt he owned D.W., but their relationship took a tragic turn after more than twenty years of friendship.

After the war, Mike returned to Vivian, Louisiana, where he owned and operated a filling station and repair shop. D.W. followed when he was discharged and worked there with Mike for four decades. The only thing that came between them was how Mike’s wife, Marie, handled her late stage cancer, and the role D.W. played.

MIKE AND D.W.
(F. D. Leone, Jr.)

D.W. Washington worked for Mike Broussard
Mike was his sergeant back in the war
They been best friends since 1965
But ain’t spoke a word since Marie died
 
Mike owned a filling station and repair shop
Mike worked on the cars, D.W. worked the pump
D.’d go to Bossier Fridays and get a little drunk
Monday mornin’ Mike’d roll by and pick him up
 
Marie was the only love of Mike’s life
D.W. was her friend, but she was Mike’s wife
They weren’t romantic but she and D were close
She’d tell things to him she’d never want Mike to know
 
As the cancer took its toll Marie made up her mind
She had D.W. swear to help her if it came time
Marie hid from Mike what was in her heart
But made sure that D.W. would do his part
 
Mike never forgave him for his role at the end
He didn’t blame Marie, no, he blamed his friend
Mike wanted every minute there was with Marie
D.W. robbed him just like that disease
 
Thirty years went by without a single word
Then D.W. got “old-timers”, was what Mike heard
Mike set aside his pride, set aside the past
Two old friends shared a bottle and a few laughs
 
Marie was the only love of Mike’s life
D.W. was her friend, but she was Mike’s wife
They weren’t romantic but she and D were close
She’d tell things to him she’d never want Mike to know
 
D.W. Washington worked for Mike Broussard
Mike was his sergeant back in the war

© 2025 Frank David Leone, Jr./Highway 80 Music (ASCAP). The songs and stories on the Highway 80 Stories website are works of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

“Mike Was a Soldier”

LOCATION: Vivian, Louisiana, Vietnam
PERIOD: 1960s-1980s
DRAMATIS PERSONAE: Michael James “Sarge” Broussard (1948-2014) ; Cole Lucas Broussard (1946-1965)

Michael James “Sarge” Broussard (1948-2014) was born and raised in Vivian, Louisiana.  He served in Vietnam (1966-1967) in a transport unit, keeping the vehicles running in the jungle, but on occasion, as necessary, he would go out on patrol.

D.W. Washington was from Detroit, African-American, and he and Mike became friends.  If not for D.W., Mike most likely would have died over there, as had his brother Luke (see songs, “Vivian, Louisiana” and “Shreveport, 1963“).

But they both made it back, and Mike returned to Vivian where he owned and operated a filling station and repair shop (see song, “Sarge“).  D.W. joined him and worked there with him (see song, “Mike and D.W.“).

Mike and his high school sweetheart, Marie, got married and had one child, a daughter Rosalie.

MIKE WAS A SOLDIER
(F. D. Leone, Jr.)

Mike was a soldier
He’d just joined up
Off to Vietnam
To work on trucks
Nineteen sixty-six
Just turned eighteen,
Doing his duty
Like his brother done
 
Just a teenager
Nineteen sixty-five
Mike and Marie
Said their goodbyes
Made some promises
Like getting married
That is, if Mike made it
Back alive
 
Not like his brother
No, all too often
Families just have the flag
That draped the coffin
And some memories
Of him on a bus
Thumbs up, and laughin’
Just laughin’

Mike was a soldier
Barely breathin’
It was D.W. got him home
To Vivian
After forty years
They ‘re still friends
Down on Main
At the filling station
 
Mike was a soldier
And a husband
Was a good friend
To dozens
They called him Sarge
And said he was
A pretty good guy
Yeah, Mike, he sure was one
 
Mike was a soldier
He’d just joined up
Off to Vietnam
To work on trucks

© 2020 Frank David Leone, Jr./Highway 80 Music (ASCAP). The songs and stories on the Highway 80 Stories website are works of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

“Let Her Run”

LOCATION: Bellamy, Alabama and surrounding area
PERIOD: 1990s
DRAMATIS PERSONAE: Rosalie Broussard (1969); Tullison “”Tully”” Tate (1965-1993); Tammy Tate (1991); Michelle Tate (1991)

Rosalie Broussard was a restless girl from a very young age. She would often wander off, not telling her parents anything, causing them to worry. Rosalie was precocious, sexually mature for her age. She got herself pregnant before she was sixteen and decided to have the baby, a boy, whom she chose to name James (b. 1985).

Rosalie married Tully Tate, and they went to live in Bellamy, Alabama, leaving James behind with Rosalie’s father. Rosalie and Tully had twin girls a few years later.

Throughout these early years of her marriage, Rosalie would run off from time to time, forcing Tully to find her and bring her back, only to run off again a few weeks later.

Finally, Tully just gave up on her and let Rosalie run.

LET HER RUN
(F. D. Leone, Jr.)

Rosalie Broussard just turned sixteen
She likes movie magazines
Spends hours in her room alone
But Rosalie’s barely hanging on
 
She hasn’t told her parents yet
Robert Abbott said it’s either him or it
Under her pillow there’s a list of names
She circled in red Jenny and James
 
Tully Tate drove a log truck
From Hosston to Bastrop
Rosalie met Tully one Friday night
For once everything felt just right
 
Tully was from Alabama
He and Rosalie left Louisiana
Got in his truck and drove all night
After leaving James with her daddy Mike
 
Rosalie’s restless as it gets dark
Listening to the wind outside and a dog bark
She’s stir crazy in that little town
Bellamy, Alabama’s all shut down
 
Tully works at the WestRock paper plant
Rosalie’ll wander off when she feels trapped
Leaving eggs frying in the pan
Tully just can’t understand
 
Rosalie don’t know why she has to roam
Tully always found her and brought her home
Later she hates the harm she’s done
One day Tully’s just gonna let her run 

© 2020 Frank David Leone, Jr./Highway 80 Music (ASCAP). The songs and stories on the Highway 80 Stories website are works of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

“James”

LOCATION: Vivian, Louisiana
PERIOD: 1993
DRAMATIS PERSONAE: James Michael Broussard (1985); Rosalie Broussard (1969); Robert Abbott (1965); Michael James “Sarge” Broussard (1948-2014); MaeAnn Murphy (1956)

Rosalie Broussard found her self pregnant a week after turning sixteen (see song “Jenny or James“).  Though her boyfriend wanted her to have an abortion, and even offered her the money, she refused, because Rosalie had a naive understanding about what having a baby really meant, and also because she just didn’t like the idea.  However, she eventually realized she couldn’t handle the responsibility and when James was three she handed him over to her father and his second wife, MaeAnn.

When Rosalie was twenty she left Vivian, Louisiana and married Tully Tate, a man she met while waitressing at a truck stop.  They had twin girls and lived in Mobile, Alabama.  But Rosalie never could make peace with domestic life and would run off from time to time, ech time Tully would find and bring her back home (see song “What Tully’s Done“).  But eventually he grew tired of chasing after his runaway wife and Rosalie finally left that family as well (see song “Rosalie“).

Mike and MaeAnn dearly loved James since they saw that his mother had not shown him the natural love of a mother.  But James still felt an emptiness which was only relieved when he played catch with his grandpa.

JAMES
(F. D. Leone, Jr.)

James was Wednesday’s child, full of woe
His mama left when he was just three years old
Rosalie was only sixteen when she had him
Left him with her parents; he was raised by them
 
James grew up wondering if he’d done something wrong
That made his mama leave him at his grandpa’s home
His father was a shadow, a name that wasn’t said
But Mike and MaeAnn did their best
 
When James played catch with Mike
For a little while everything seemed alright
A peaceful feeling settled in with the dimming light
On those summer days when James played catch with Mike
 
He overheard bits and pieces about his mama’s life
She was living in Mobile, a truck driver’s wife
At Christmas she might visit but wouldn’t stay too long
Gave James some toy he’d long ago outgrown
 
MaeAnn said he had twin sisters in Mobile
James really hoped that they had a better deal
But soon Rosalie would run off from them too
It seemed that’s all his mama was cut out to do
 
When James played catch with Mike
For a little while everything seemed alright
A peaceful feeling settled in with the dimming light
On those summer days when James played catch with Mike

© 2019 Frank David Leone, Jr./Highway 80 Music (ASCAP). The songs and stories on the Highway 80 Stories website are works of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

“I’m Still in Love With You”

LOCATION: Vivian, Louisiana
PERIOD: 1981-1984
DRAMATIS PERSONAE: Michael James “Sarge” Broussard (1948-2014) ; Marie Arceneaux (1952-1981); D.W. Washington (1949-2011)

Mike Broussard has never come to grips with his wife Marie’s suicide. Part of it is because she chose to confide in his friend D.W. and not him. Part of it is the fact that she most likely would have lived some months longer, giving him more time to accept her passing. But the suddenness of her death left him with feelings he can’t quite get a hold of.

At first he blamed his friend for helping her, but then he got mad at her. They had never gone to bed angry and were always able to talk out their differences.  But left alone like this, he feels betrayed and can’t accept her loss.

I’M STILL IN LOVE WITH YOU
(F. D. Leone, Jr.)

I want to forgive you
But I can’t
I want to forget you
But I ain’t
I’m still in love with you

I want to hate you
But I don’t
Move on and replace you
But I won’t
I’m still in love with you

If you were still around
We would talk it out
And set it right as the sun came up
But I’m here all alone
Staring at a cold headstone
And then I’ll climb back in my truck

Someday I’ll forgive you
But I ain’t ready yet
I’ll never forget you
Long as I draw breath
I’m still in love with you

© 2019 Frank David Leone, Jr./Highway 80 Music (ASCAP). The songs and stories on the Highway 80 Stories website are works of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

“D.W. Washington”

LOCATION: Vivian, Louisiana
PERIOD: 1968-2011
DRAMATIS PERSONAE: D.W. Washington (1949-2011); Mike “Sarge” Broussard (1948-2014); Marie Martin Broussard (1950-1981)

Dwight Wayne Washington was born and spent his early life in Detroit, Michigan. He was drafted into the Army in 1967 when he turned 18 and was sent to Vietnam.  Eventually he was assigned to the 515th Transportation Company in Cam Ranh Bay under Sergeant Mike Broussard.  Here he learned just about all there was to know about repairing cars and motors.

Instead of going back to Detroit, D.W. decided to move to Vivian and continued to work for Mike in his filling station and auto repair shop for the next 40 years.  D.W. and Mike were best friends despite D.W.’s tendency to get drunk most weekends forcing Mike to drive by his house on Monday morning and get him up for another week of work.

MIke married his high school girlfriend and they had a good life until she got cancer.  When she realized that no matter what the doctors told her, she wasn’t going to get better.  And she didn’t want to continue treatments which left her debilitated and took over her life. She decided to take control and she would decide how and when she would end the misery.

However, MIke was adamantly opposed to giving up. He wanted to try everything possible to keep Marie alive.  But she wasn’t having it, although she kept her worst thoughts from Mike, she confided in D.W.  She asked him when the time came she needed his help to get it done.  Reluctantly he agreed, feeling that she needed him more than what his loyalty to Mike might call for.

It all happened exactly like Marie planned, and Mike was bitter for years, but turned his anger away from Marie and held D.W. responsible.  They didn’t speak for a very long time.

Then D.W. began losing his grip on reality, the doctors called it dementia, maybe Alzheimers.  When he heard about this, Mike set aside the grudge he’d been holding onto and the two friends spent D.W.’s last days together, sharing a few beers and memories.

D.W. died in 2011 shortly before his sixty-fifth birthday from congestive heart failure (see song “Out on Cross Lake”).

D.W. WASHINGTON
(F. D. Leone, Jr.)

I wanna tell you about my friend Sarge
We met each other in Vietnam
His real name was Mike Broussard
D.W. Washington is who I am

Sarge was white and I am black
But we were the best of friends
Did our tours and we came back
To a one pump station in Vivian

We ran that shop him and me
Just fought once in over forty years
It had to do with his wife Marie
Of the two sides I chose hers

She needed me more than him
Well Sarge didn’t see it like that
But I saved his life back in ‘Nam
That’s the only reason he came back

Figured I didn’t owe him a thing
Ah, but Marie needed my help
She couldn’t take anymore of that cancer pain
Couldn’t do what she wanted by herself

So the truth is I saved his life
Helped her to slip away
Sarge blamed me for his wife
Right up to my dying day

I can still see him under the hood
Chewing on a ten cent cigar
I’d do it all the same, yes I would
My best friend was still Sarge
My best friend was still Sarge

© 2017 Frank David Leone, Jr./Highway 80 Music (ASCAP). The songs and stories on the Highway 80 Stories website are works of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.