Lorraine Achee was born in September 1924 in New Orleans, Louisiana. She grew up in the Carrollton neighborhood which was an Italian community then. Church was important on Sundays. There were very few non-Italians there. Her family had a market in the middle of the block, and they lived behind it. They would go to the grocery store that had the greatest lagniappe [Annotator's Note: a term originating in Louisiana meaning "a little smething extra"]. The street was not paved and there were not many cars. It was mostly horse and buggies. All dogs ran loose. It was mostly quiet, and everyone knew each other and eager to get along. Houses had small porches. People sat outside due to not having air conditioning and they talked a lot amongst themselves. She still sits out a lot in the afternoon on her porch. Achee had three siblings and she was the youngest. They attended Lafayette School for grammar school. They played outside. Baseball was a big thing in the days of Babe Ruth [Annotator's Note: George Herman "Babe" Ruth, Jr. was an American professional baseball player]. Girls were not supposed to ride bikes, but she did. The kids would all go out in crowds. They would roller skate to the Nix Library to get books and to the stores on Oak Street. It was a fun way to grow up. There would be concerts every Thursday night in Palmer Park. Candy was usually five cents. The children did not realize that New Orleans life was rough but there were instances of young girls being kidnapped and never seen again. Someone would come by in the mornings on a bicycle with fresh loaves of bread. Achee would fill the end of the bread with condensed milk.

Lorraine Achee was a child in New Orleans, Louisiana during the Great Depression. Her family owned a meat market, so they always had things to eat, usually the things that did not sell. Her mother cooked beans on Mondays and then made soup out of whatever was leftover. They ate soup every day. They would go to the French Market to buy vegetables and fish. She describes the market today and how different it is from how it was then. She and her family did St. Joseph's Altars. [Annotator's Note: St. Joseph's Altars are public and private altars built during the citywide event of Saint Joseph's Day in New Orleans, Louisiana. Food is placed in homage then is generally distributed to charity after the altar is dismantled.] They did not have one themselves but would go to St. Joseph Church on Tulane Avenue. At that time, they had the longest altar of any church. All of the girls wanted to get married there, which required special dispensation from the Archbishop. People would make different kinds of cakes and pies and then people could take something in return for leaving a donation at designated times. The Depression was very difficult for many families. There was no government help then. People would come and ask for a handout, but they would want to do a job first in exchange. Achee's mother said they always had to share whatever they had. People would mark the front of the house to indicate if the food was good. People would chop wood for them. Many people had chickens and other animals. Achee had a big, tame alligator that they kept fed with bones from their market. Everybody helped their neighbors. Add water to the beans and stretch them out. People cared for each other and were aware of each other. Very different times now.

Lorraine Achee's father had died when they were very young. Her mother would mention the pending war news once in a while. When President Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt] would talk on the radio, her mother would have them all sit and listen to him. She recalls Eddie Cantor [Annotator's Note: Isidore Itzkowitz, known as Eddie Cantor, was an American entertainer] and Amos 'n' Andy [Annotator's Note: American radio and television show set in Harlem, New York from 1928 to 1960] as entertainment on the radio. She walked to school and came home for lunch every day. Huey Long [Annotator's Note: Huey Pierce Long Jr.; 40th governor of Louisiana, 1928 to 1932] was running for Governor when Achee was very young. She did not understand the controversy around him. Her mother could not afford to send all of the children to school then. When Huey Long was elected, he provided free lunch and free books to all school children. Achee's mother wanted to provide lunch for them because they could so that is why they came home to eat. As Achee got older she was asked to work in the cafeteria in exchange for free lunch. Achee graduated high school at 17 and got a job at the telephone company. Back then people took any job they could get. She was in class for the job when the war broke out. No one expected it. On 7 December 1941 in New Orleans, Louisiana, she had gone to work. Someone was standing behind her due to her being in training. Suddenly all of the switchboard lights lit up and she thought there must be a problem with the electrical power. Somebody plugged in and heard that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor.

Lorraine Achee could not believe the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor and she did not really understand it. They had not had long discussions at the nightly dinner table. Her brother had joined the Army at age 17 with his mother's consent but he had bad asthma and was discharged. He was drafted once war broke out and, as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division, dropped in behind enemy lines on D-Day [Annotator's Note: Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944]. He was rescued by General Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.]. He traveled all over Europe and was killed in Son, Holland even though he had enough points to have been sent home by then. He was temporarily buried there. Achee later went to Holland and was told that Queen Wilhelmina [Annotator's Note: Wilhelmina of the Netherlands; Queen of the Netherlands, 1890 to 1948] donated the land for the cemetery. She later found out it was the farmers who gave the land. Achee was shocked when he was drafted due to his asthma. There was not much to do for relief of the condition back then. She felt it was unfair but what can you say? Another brother went into the Navy and was on the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-4). He had a bad experience on the ship. He got very close to a pilot who went on a mission and returned having been shot up badly. The men were taken off the planes and were put on long tables in the mess hall. He could not believe how his friend had landed the aircraft as he was cut up so badly. He did not talk about it until he had been out of the Navy for around ten years. He had awful nightmares until he told people about it. Her brother would not go to the Army Hospital for help.

Lorraine Achee feels that the war helped the country out of the Great Depression. People were working in factories and getting other jobs. Two of her brothers joined the National Guard. Achee hated to see her other brothers go off to war but she did not expect them to get killed. Her older brother was strong and could take care of himself but was killed by a German sniper. Realizing he was gone was terrible. The family discussed the funeral a long time. They knew they could bring him back and bury him in the family tomb, but they ultimately decided it was best that he remain buried in Holland. The family had a memorial service in New Orleans, Louisiana. The priest and just the family had a service at their dining room table. They did announce it in their church. There is a memorial for all of the men from the area in Palmer Park. Achee worked at the telephone company during the war. They would go into certain areas to churches that had a room where people could bring food for the needy. She would also bring food to feasts at the church where people talked about their family members who were serving. They always prayed for their brother before eating their meals. Once when the brother was younger, he had rescued a horse and brought it home. They took the horse to the farm where they went to get their milk. Achee never went to any USO [Annotator’s Note: United Service Organizations] dances. She was working a split shift at the phone company which made it hard to do so. Achee would take the streetcar along a route called the St. Charles Belt. On some days when she was working, she would ride the streetcar and read during the breaks. There was a church she would sit in sometimes too. She finally got a regular shift during the day. After the war, she married and man who had returned from the war. They worked the all-night shift together after that. Her husband had been in the Navy in the war but never entered combat due to his age and entering late in the war. Achee and her family kept up with the news of the war as they could, trying to track where her brother went in Europe. [Annotator's Note: Achee offers something from a cemetery to the interviewer.]

Lorraine Achee feels that the war made it difficult in the sense that she no longer had her big brother around. As kids, they all went everywhere together. Italian people overdo it when it comes to protecting their kids. Achee did not learn to swim because she was not allowed to have a bathing suit. They would watch the circus unload off the trains together. She does not remember everywhere her brother went while in Europe. She did not know that he was in Son, Holland when he was killed until later on. They did not celebrate V-E Day [Annotator's Note: Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945]. They took time to meditate and pray for those who were not coming home. They were happy for the ones who did, and they baked cookies and sent them. Her cousin had sent some cookies to a boy stationed in Italy. He brought back a box of cameos on his return and gave her one. It has a chariot scene. Her cousin left her that cameo after she passed away. Achee feels that The National WWII Museum in New Orleans is very fantastic and important. She feels it should have been named after a professor that really pressed for it [Annotator's Note: Stephen E. Ambrose, PhD]. It is so important to teach the lessons of the war. If we were teaching it more, we would not be in Afghanistan now. She voted for President Barack Obama because he said he would end the war there, but he did not. We can help the world more but not going to war. She is proud of the museum and feels that it is the most successful thing that has ever happened to New Orleans. It makes a difference, it really does.