Jesse
Antoine Marcel (1907 - 1986) was born to Theodule and
Adelaide Marcel in Terrebonne Parrish, Louisiana. He apparently
spent his whole youth there, as he graduated from Terrebonne
High School.
After
high school, he worked as a draftsman for the Louisiana
Department of Transportation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
then for the Shell Oil Company as a cartographer, specializing
in making maps from aerial photography. Along the way,
he served two three-year enlistments in the National Guard
In Louisiana from 1925 through 1928, then in Texas
from 1936 through 1939.
He
and his family (wife and one son, Jesse
A. Marcel Jr.) were living in Houston,
Texas when WWII broke out, and in March 1942 at the age
of 35, he applied for, and was given a commission as
a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Force.
Based on his experience in mapping and analyzing aerial
photography, the Army sent him off to Harrisburg, PA for
training as an Combat Photo Interpreter/
Intelligence Officer.
Jesse
did well in intelligence school well enough that
his next assignment was to be an instructor at this school.
Eventually, the Army granted his request for combat, and
in October of 1943, 1st Lieutenant Marcel found himself
assigned to the 5th Bomber Command in the southwest Pacific
Theater. For the next two years, Marcel fought the war
first as a Squadron Intelligence
Officer, then Group
Intelligence Officer, participating in several
campaigns that resulted in the retaking of the Philippines
Islands.
During
his combat tour, Jesse performed his duties well. His
commanders rewarded his work
and abilities with two Air Medals, the
Bronze Star, a promotion
to Captain, and then
to Major in May, 1945.
Just
before the dropping of the Atomic Bomb, Major Marcel was
sent back to the States to get training in the use of
Airborne Terrain Mapping Radar systems.
With
the war over, Marcel was reassigned in January, 1946 to
the 509th
Composite Group at the Roswell
Army Air Force Base (The 509th later became
the 509th Bombing Group and then, with the separation
of the Army Air Corp as the U.S. Air Force, the 509th
Bombing Wing.) In July 1947, Marcel briefly found himself
the center of attention when he brought in the debris
of a "Flying Disk"
that Mac Brazel had found on Fosters Ranch.
In
August 1948, he was transferred to the Strategic
Air Command, where he
was eventually put in charge of a Pentagon briefing room
for the Air
Force Office of Atomic Energy
(AFOAT-1).
There, his responsibilities were to make sure that materials
(charts, illustrations, etc) were produced and ready on
schedule, and to maintain the organization of the briefing
room staff.
In
January 1949, he signed a statement that he fully intended
to continue his career in the Air Force, but in the following
year, he received word that his elderly mother required
assistance that his sister could not provide. His request
for a hardship release from active duty was granted, so
in July 1950, he returned to Houma, Louisiana. There,
he drew on his long time hobby in Ham Radio to become
an Electronic Repairman, specializing in Televisions,
Transmitters and Receivers. When he was released from
active duty, his commission (as
a Lieutenant Colonel) was transferred to the
Air Force Reserves, and he eventually received his full
discharge in 1958. Jesse Marcel died in 1986 at the age
of 79.
Jesse,
in spite of his claim that he was under orders to never,
ever talk about his role in the alien disk recovery, occasionally
did let on to others that that
he had been once involved in a UFO recovery.
In 1978, one of his Ham Radio correspondents mentioned
Jesses story to Stanton Friedman, a UFO researcher,
and this led to telling his story of the Flying Disk to
the world.
Source:
http://www.roswellfiles.com/Witnesses/Marcel.htm