J. L. Giroir was born in November 1911 in Gibson, Louisiana. His family moved between there and Morgan City, Louisiana throughout his youth. During the Great Depression, the Giroirs lived chiefly off the land. In school Giroir excelled at mathematics, and his education continued to the tenth grade, when his father was injured in an accident and Giroir went to work, first for a public utility company, then at a sawmill, and eventually for Shell Oil Company. In September 1942, while he was on vacation in New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] with his mother, he went into a Navy recruiting tent and enlisted.

After his examinations, J. L. Giroir was sent to San Diego, California for basic training. Because he had been a sergeant in the National Guard, he was put in charge of young recruits and made them, "the best marchers around." After completing basic and a short leave, he was sent to Boston, Massachusetts. He was there on his birthday, and even though it was snowing, he took advantage of a three-day pass to tour the city. He had advanced training in Quincy, Massachusetts, and often enjoyed an evening of dancing, calling himself an "alley cat." He shipped out on the heavy cruiser USS Boston (CA-69), and remembered that at night the cities along the northeastern seaboard were in blackout and that they buried a sailor at sea. Giroir traveled through the Panama Canal, and docked in San Diego, California where he went to fire fighting school and soon after he was promoted to Watertender 1st Class. When he deployed, his first stop was Honolulu, Hawaii, and he saw the sunken ships in Pearl Harbor from the Japanese attack. Giroir said it was "pitiful." The USS Boston (CA-69) stayed there about three months, patrolling and training, and then headed through submarine infested waters to the South Pacific. Giroir's ship carried a vice admiral, and was always the lead ship in the convoy. Along the way, Giroir recalled, they had some close calls, but they were lucky. He related the story of a time when he was off duty, sitting on the fantail of the ship, and he watched a torpedo dart by; he reported it, and the gunners destroyed the submarine that had sent it out.

J. L. Giroir wrote to his mother on the Fourth of July [Annotator's Note: 4 July 1944], and although he could not tell her where he was, he told her he might see some excitement. He was amazed at the number of Japanese warriors, and said when they bombed the caves on the islands scores of soldiers would come running out. The USS Boston (CA-69) made three trips to the island carrying troops. Giroir was in charge of the five or six men in the fire room of the USS Boston where they tended the boilers that powered the ship; he estimated that there were 6,000 sailors on the ship altogether. Times could be tough in the fire room; pressure had to be maintained at about 600 pounds. Giroir said he put in a lot of hours, but he enjoyed his work. From there [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands], the Boston went on to the Philippines, and was involved in about 20 big battles as the war continued in the Pacific. He remarked on the fierceness of the battle for Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan]. Giroir said the Boston was the first ship to go into the China Sea, and recalled hearing of the fire-bombings of Tokyo and the dropping of the atomic bombs. He said the Boston was among the many ships that witnessed the Japanese surrender, and that Admiral Nimitz [Annotator's Note: US Navy Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Sr., Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet] was in his convoy. It was a really happy day when an announcement came over the loudspeaker of the Boston stating that it was on its way back to the United States. The USS Boston (CA-69) returned to Honolulu, Hawaii.

Quarters on the USS Boston (CA-69) were nice according to J. L. Giroir. Bunk beds were stacked six high and food was good. There were a couple of Cajun cooks who prepared white beans really well. Until discovered and stopped, he and his men would cook meat on the boilers. He mentioned that during battles, there were times when there was no sleep day or night; everybody was up. Giroir said he sent and received letters from home, although sometimes the incoming mail could be as much as three weeks late. He had leave when returned to San Diego and he got married in New Orleans. He was sent up to New Jersey to “wait on a ship,” and lived in a barracks. He ended up in a job on land for the rest of his military service. When he was discharged, he went through Philadelphia [Annotator's Note: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania] on his way home, and took in a few stage plays, including "Oklahoma." Giroir liked the music of the era. He made a number of good buddies while he was in the Navy, and kept in touch with some of them who were from Louisiana. Later, he learned from a friend in the scrap metal business that the USS Boston (CA-69) was being dismantled in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the friend was able to scrounge a piece of metal for Giroir to keep as a souvenir.

J. L. Giroir and his wife eloped in New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] in 1945. They had the marriage blessed in the church after the war. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer pauses the interview to change tapes at 0:57:12.000.] After the war, Giroir worked on a big gas rig. In this clip, Giroir talks about an encounter he had with a production foreman on the rig one day. The drilling superintendent, Max Clayton [Annotator's Note: unsure of spelling], came out by helicopter to find out what the problem was. Clayton had the crew follow Giroir's recommendation and the rig began to work properly. Clayton then sent the production foreman home on a boat. After the incident, Giroir wrote a report to be sent to New Orleans. Giroir goes on to describe other jobs he performed around the state of Louisiana and interactions he had with his supervisors.

J. L. Giroir got married while he was still in the service. After he was discharged, he went back to Morgan City, Louisiana, and was working as "gang pusher" for Shell Oil Company on Weeks Island, Louisiana. While there, an executive from Shell Oil Company in New York came for an inspection: it was General Jimmy Doolittle [Annotator's Note: US Air Force General James Harold Doolittle], and he and Giroir sat together and talked about the war in the Pacific. Giroir originally went to work, prewar, for Shell after he demonstrated to a company man his knowledge of the woods and swamplands around Gibson and Morgan City, Louisiana. He began his long career with the company "cutting right-of-ways." During the rest of this clip, Giroir describes his work with Shell.

Asked if his Navy service helped him with his career with Shell Oil Company, J. L. Giroir said his experience supervising workers was helpful. He was not aware of Shell using any surplus equipment from the war. When Giroir heard that the USS Boston (CA-69) was being dismantled in New Orleans, Louisiana, he and another Shell employee went to see if there was anything the company could use among the salvage, but there was nothing. Remembering his days of cooking on the ship's boilers, Giroir mentioned that he still does some cooking these days. He rarely experienced sleepless nights after he was out of battle. Although work in the oilfield could be dangerous, he did not think any of his experiences postwar compared to the close calls he had on the USS Boston (CA-69).

J. L. Giroir said he always thanks the good Lord for getting him through dangerous situations. Many of the people he worked with at Shell Oil Company had also been in the war. Giroir mentioned that the Navy took the time he spent prewar in the National Guard into consideration, and that affected his rank and pay.