Lorainne (nee Taix) McCaslin was born [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] to French immigrant parents who lived an old-world style. She had a brother named Louis, nine years her senior, who she said was a smart, kind person that contributed substantially to the financial support of their family. He had opted against high school, and instead was trained as a radio operator. Upon completion of his courses, he was employed with the United Fruit Company in New Orleans, Louisiana, operating first on small ships, and later on larger ships, sometimes traveling as far away as Australia. He worked himself up to the position of Chief Radio Operator, in charge of the ship's main course of communication at that time. He was sometimes in the dangerous waters of Torpedo Junction off the coast of Florida. [Annotator's Note: In 1942, German u-boats prowled the Atlantic Ocean and sank freighters off the Atlantic seaboard and in the Caribbean at will, earning the area the nickname.] McCaslin said the United States Coast Guard had offered her brother a commander's position, to commence after he completed the commercial voyage he was currently working, and he was excited about the proposition of joining the armed forces. But he didn't make it.

Lorainne McCaslin was about 15 years old and lying on the sofa in the family living room when she intercepted the telegram that reported her brother "missing at sea". All during the previous week, the newspaper had reported on ships that had been sunk off Miami by the German u-boat [Annotator's Note: submarine] U-357. Her parents took the news of their son's probable loss very hard, but McCaslin held out hope until the captain and the first mate of her brother's ship [Annotator's Note: SS Nicarao] came to them and confirmed that the ship's radio shack had collapsed with Louis inside. The captain brought a commemorative silver tray for McCaslin's mother, and told her what happened. On 15 May 1942 their vessel had taken a hit amidships, Louis had notified the authorities of the attack, and the order to abandon ship had gone out. Louis was about to board a lifeboat when he decided to return to the radio shack to send another message detailing the ship's coordinates. While the lifeboat waited for him, the radio shack collapsed. McCaslin assumed Louis went down with the ship. He was among the nine who perished that day.

Lorainne McCaslin remembers her brother traveled most of the time, but would always bring her a gift from wherever he went. She considers him a hero. McCaslin said Lou [Annotator's Note: Louis Taix] was very patriotic and recalls that he was always after his parents to obtain their citizenship. Because he never had a proper burial, she had a memorial plaque installed in the cemetery where her parents are buried, and arranged for a priest to conduct a ceremony. Both of McCaslin's younger brothers served in the United States Navy during the war, one in the Pacific Theater, the other on the Home Front.

Louis [Annotator's Note: McCaslin's borother, Louis Taix] had so many plans, and Lorainne McCaslin doesn't think that her brother was ready to die at 25 years of age; but she said he knew that the German submarines were active and that they would shoot any survivors of the ships they sank. She wants her children and grandchildren to remember that he was a casualty of the war. McCaslin is donating the commemorative tray her mother received from the captain of his ship [Annotator's Note: SS Nicarao], as well as a gold heart pin she was presented by city of New Orleans, to The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, so that others can remember him too. McCaslin said the success of the war made Americans proud. For her part, McCaslin participated in her school's scrap drives, and recruited her father's help in her projects. They both worked in honor of their lost loved one. They made local newspaper headlines when her father, who became a citizen soon after Louis's death, persuaded a friend to donate a ten ton derelict steam roller to a scrap iron collection effort. A photograph featured with the newspaper article shows her father's hand-lettered sign that read "Scrap the Japs". Mostly because she thinks it a very funny story, McCaslin has donated that write-up to the museum as well.