Remi Kidder was born in 1926 in Arnaudville, Louisiana. Raised on a farm, Kidder's father was always busy with the operations in the fields. The children helped in producing corn, sweet potato, and sugar cane. His father was married three times with the first two wives being deceased. Kidder has six full-siblings and 11 half-siblings. Kidder heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] over the radio. The military ramped up as the draft increased with family and friends being called up. Barracks were built in Alexandria for training recruits. Kidder was anxious to get involved in the fight and revenge Pearl Harbor. He selected the Navy so that he would have a place to sleep unlike the infantry. He joined with three other friends from his senior class after their graduation in June 1944 which was D-Day in France [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. The students went to church on D-Day.

Remi Kidder was sent to San Diego, California for his basic training. He was used to hard work and discipline so that did not bother him. His fair skin had difficulty with the strong sun bearing down on him. The small hats the recruits were issued did not protect him from the sun's intensity. After basic training between June and July 1944, he was sent to Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii] and then by troopship to join the crew of the Wasp [Annotator's Note: USS Wasp (CV-18)] in the Pacific. That was about September 1944. He initially pushed and handled airplanes into position. He soon became part of the catapult crew. He had to connect the plane to the catapult and verify the plane's operational readiness prior to its release to catapult off the carrier. On occasion, a plane would be lost but the pilots were retrieved. To Kidder's knowledge, no pilot was lost while being catapulted off the Wasp.

Remi Kidder served on the Wasp [Annotator's Note: USS Wasp (CV-18)] as it performed its job of softening up islands prior to amphibious landings. Wasp was part of the 5th Fleet of fast, new ships. It also operated with the 3rd Fleet occasionally. Kidder enjoyed the music of Tokyo Rose [Annotator's Note: nickname given by Allied servicemen to any English-speaking female radio personality broadcasting Japanese propaganda in the Pacific Theater] who seemed to know when the Wasp was reassigned to the different fleets. In actuality, the two fleets were one. The ruse of giving two separate fleet identifications was for propaganda purposes. The 3rd Fleet and the Wasp had the job of preventing amphibious landing interferences from the Japanese home islands. In doing so, Wasp positioned itself between the island being assaulted and Japan to intercept any counterattack against the landing forces. The 7th Fleet had the responsibility of directly supporting the invasion forces. The task force, including Wasp, was constantly under attack. During one such attack, the Yorktown [Annotator's Note: USS Yorktown (CV-10)] suffered bomb damage. The enemy targeted the carriers. Cruisers, destroyers and battleships provided protection for the carriers, as did friendly airplanes flying cover over the fleet. In March [Annotator's Note: March 1945], a lone enemy bomber evaded defenses and dropped an armor piercing bomb on the Wasp. Over 100 were killed after it exploded several decks down. The carrier's fires were extinguished. Kidder was topside near the island when the event occurred. There were five inch guns [Annotator's Note: five inch, 38 caliber naval gun] firing on the incoming attack plane followed by 40mm [Annotator's Note: Bofors Bofors 40mm antiaircraft automatic cannon], then 20mm [Annotator's Note: Oerlikon 20mm antiaircraft automatic cannon], and .50 caliber guns [Annotator's Note: Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun] but the plane still penetrated the Wasp's defensive fire. On a different occasion, an enemy plane managed to crash into an American ship at Eniwetok [Annotator's Note: Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands]. Kidder and the Wasp crewmen were watching a war film when this occurred. The moored ships got underway not knowing if another attack would be launched on them. When task force commander, Admiral McCain [Annotator's Note: US Navy Admiral John McCain, Sr.] boarded the Wasp to make it his flagship for several months, he brought along his Marine Corps guards who were veterans of battle at Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal, codenamed Operation Watchtower; 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943; Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands]. One of the Marines showed Kidder gold teeth he had extracted from Japanese during the combat. [Annotator's Note: Kidder reacts to the memory.] One of Roosevelt's [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] relatives briefly boarded Wasp but did not remain onboard for long.

Remi Kidder got the bed he always hoped he would have. [Annotator's Note: Kidder joined the Navy and served aboard the USS Wasp (CV-18) because he wanted to serve in a branch of the military where he would always have a bed to sleep in.] It was rough on Kidder when there were burials at sea for the men lost to a Japanese bombing attack on the ship. Remains of some of those killed got into the ventilation system and he was struck by the smell it created. He was uncertain of the implications of the dropping of the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945]. The Wasp was offshore of Japan and preparing for the invasion of the home islands. Tokyo [Annotator's Note: Tokyo, Japan] was being bombed in anticipation. Many enemy ships were sunk or damaged. Wasp helped cut the supply of oil to the forces on Japan. That resulted in pilot training and fueling aircraft for round trips being curtailed. The kamikazes would only be fueled for a one way trip. Tankers and transport ships were targeted in the straits off China. Kidder sailed with the Wasp when it went through a typhoon that ripped a portion of the bow and prevented use of the catapult. Aircraft still took off the deck for about a month after the war. Supplies were dropped to POW [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war] camps and flew over Japan to assure hostilities had ended. After the Wasp was hit by a bomb [Annotator's Note: 19 March 1945], she returned to Tacoma, Washington for repairs. The carrier crew was surprised at the number of female shipyard workers they saw. Kidder had a week leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] back home and then returned to the carrier to redeploy to the Pacific. After the war, the flight deck was stacked with bunks to return veterans from the war. Italian prisoners of war were taken back to Naples, Italy. Kidder saw a long-lost friend there and celebrated with him. The Shore Patrol [Annotator's Note: Navy military police] was happy to direct sailors back to their ships. [Annotator's Note: Kidder laughs.] During Christmas 1945, Kidder was in London [Annotator's Note: London, England]. Loading returning veterans, the ship's captain vowed to get the men to the United States by New Year's Eve. That did not happen because a storm interfered with the voyage. The soldiers sold their liquor to the sailors because they were seasick. The ship sailed by the Statue of Liberty and docked in Bayonne, New Jersey. Kidder made his way to New Orleans, Louisiana where he was discharged. He then returned then to his hometown [Annotator's Note: Arnaudville, Louisiana].

Remi Kidder returned to Arnaudville [Annotator's Note: Arnaudville, Louisiana]. His family knew he was returning. His brother had returned earlier because of the point system [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home]. Kidder had been in the Navy for two years and two days. He used the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] for his support for three years or one year longer than he had served. He took a heavy course load to complete his education during that period. He graduated with a bachelor of science degree in 1950. He was certified to teach social studies, science, agriculture and English. He did not feel qualified to teach English but he liked chemistry, biology and vocational agriculture. He went on teach school for 15 years and then became a principal for 20 years at Leonville High School [Annotator's Note: in Opelousas, Louisiana]. He ended up teaching the children of his earlier students. The National WWII Museum in New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Lousiana] is excellent and it is still being added to. Most people understand the significance of World War 2. It significantly bothers Kidder when someone disrespects the flag.