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| | ==Career== | | ==Career== |
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| − | Admitted to the bar by the Louisiana Supreme Court, Jack practiced from 1932 until his legal retirement in 1979. During his early years, his brother, Wellborn Jack, was his law partner. His last legal partnership was Booth, Lockard, Jack, Pleasant, and Lesage; the latter partner, Joseph Carnahan "Joe" LeSage, Jr. (1928-2015), was a one-term member of the state Senate from 1968 to 1972. From 1929, except for a brief period as a Louisiana National Guardsman, Jack held a commission in either the regular Army or the Army Reserve until his military retirement in 1966.<ref name=bio/> | + | Admitted to the bar by the Louisiana Supreme Court, Jack practiced from 1932 until his legal retirement in 1979. During his early years, his brother, Wellborn Jack, was his law partner. His last legal partnership was Booth, Lockard, Jack, Pleasant, and Lesage; the latter partner, Joseph Carnahan "Joe" LeSage, Jr. (1928-2015), was a one-term member of the state Senate from 1968 to 1972.<ref name=bio/> |
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| − | Jack's grandfather, Colonel William H. Jack, was a soldier and lawyer; an uncle, Robert Foster, was a career Army officer. In November 1940, following in their paths, Jack was named a captain and then a company commander, major, and lieutenant colonel in the redesigned 82nd Airborne Division. He became a battalion commander when the 82nd was dispatched to North Africa in 1943 as part of the [[Mediterranean]] Theater of Operations. He [[parachute]]d into [[Italy]] in the campaign to "soften up" the [[Fascist]] resistance. He also fought in [[Sicily]], [[England]], and [[Normandy]], [[France]],<ref name=bio/> in which he had been part of the glider assault that preceded the main invasion.<ref name=jackfindagrave/> | + | One of Jack's legal clients was the Shreveport pastor [[Jimmy G. Tharpe]] of the Baptist Tabernacle, an [[Independent Baptist]] congregation. Tharpe retained Jack to appear before the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]], which was investigating its sale of church bonds. A government administrator in [[Fort Worth]], Texas, had told Tharpe that the church had two weeks before it must declare [[bankruptcy]], but Jack's trip quickly resolved the matter.<ref>Jimmy G. Tharpe, Sr., ''Mr. Baptist'' (Springfield, [[Missouri]]: 21st Century Press, 2003), pp. 71-74.</ref> |
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| | + | From 1929, except for a brief period as a Louisiana National Guardsman, Jack held a commission in either the regular Army or the Army Reserve until his military retirement in 1966. Jack's grandfather, Colonel William H. Jack, was a soldier and lawyer; an uncle, Robert Foster, was a career Army officer. In November 1940, following in their paths, Jack was named a captain and then a company commander, major, and lieutenant colonel in the redesigned 82nd Airborne Division. He became a battalion commander when the 82nd was dispatched to North Africa in 1943 as part of the [[Mediterranean]] Theater of Operations. He [[parachute]]d into [[Italy]] in the campaign to "soften up" the [[Fascist]] resistance. He also fought in [[Sicily]], [[England]], and [[Normandy]], [[France]],<ref name=bio/> in which he had been part of the glider assault that preceded the main invasion.<ref name=jackfindagrave/> |
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| | After Normandy, General Ridgway assumed command of the XVIII Airborne Corps, which was dispatched to the European Theater of Operations. By then a colonel, Jack fought in the [[Battle of the Bulge]] in [[Belgium]] and proceeded to the [[North Sea]]. In April 1945, Ridgway selected Jack to deliver under a flag of truce an ultimatum of surrender to German Field Marshal Walter Model (1891-1945), whose army was trapped in the Ruhr Valley. Ridgway compared Model's situation to that of [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] General [[Robert E. Lee]] in 1865, when Lee surrendered to [[U.S. Grant]]. Unlike Lee, Model refused to surrender out of personal honor but instead discharged his troops and made then civilian prisoners of war and refugees before he took his own life. Jack returned to bring to notify General Ridgway that Model refusal to surrender.<ref name=jackfindagrave>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Jack&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=20&GScnty=1117&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=24992428&df=all& | | After Normandy, General Ridgway assumed command of the XVIII Airborne Corps, which was dispatched to the European Theater of Operations. By then a colonel, Jack fought in the [[Battle of the Bulge]] in [[Belgium]] and proceeded to the [[North Sea]]. In April 1945, Ridgway selected Jack to deliver under a flag of truce an ultimatum of surrender to German Field Marshal Walter Model (1891-1945), whose army was trapped in the Ruhr Valley. Ridgway compared Model's situation to that of [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] General [[Robert E. Lee]] in 1865, when Lee surrendered to [[U.S. Grant]]. Unlike Lee, Model refused to surrender out of personal honor but instead discharged his troops and made then civilian prisoners of war and refugees before he took his own life. Jack returned to bring to notify General Ridgway that Model refusal to surrender.<ref name=jackfindagrave>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Jack&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=20&GScnty=1117&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=24992428&df=all& |
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| | Jack received the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, the [[Bronze Star]], the European Theatre of Operations Medal with six campaign stars, the French Croix de Guerre, and the Belgium War Cross with palms. In January 1946, Jack left active Army duty and returned to Shreveport to resume his law practice and serve in the Army Reserve. In April 1948, he was promoted to U.S. Army brigadier general. Thereafter, he was the division commander of the 95th Infantry Division Reserve over the three-state area of [[Arkansas]], [[Oklahoma]], and Louisiana. He was then named division commander of the 75th Infantry Division. In May 1955, Jack was promoted to his terminal position of major general. Two years later, he assumed command of the 75th Maneuver Area Command with headquarters in [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], Texas, and a component group in Shreveport. Jack was affiliated with the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.<ref name=bio/> | | Jack received the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, the [[Bronze Star]], the European Theatre of Operations Medal with six campaign stars, the French Croix de Guerre, and the Belgium War Cross with palms. In January 1946, Jack left active Army duty and returned to Shreveport to resume his law practice and serve in the Army Reserve. In April 1948, he was promoted to U.S. Army brigadier general. Thereafter, he was the division commander of the 95th Infantry Division Reserve over the three-state area of [[Arkansas]], [[Oklahoma]], and Louisiana. He was then named division commander of the 75th Infantry Division. In May 1955, Jack was promoted to his terminal position of major general. Two years later, he assumed command of the 75th Maneuver Area Command with headquarters in [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], Texas, and a component group in Shreveport. Jack was affiliated with the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.<ref name=bio/> |
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| − | One of Jack's legal clients was the Shreveport pastor [[Jimmy G. Tharpe]] of the Baptist Tabernacle, an [[Independent Baptist]] congregation. Tharpe retained Jack to appear before the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]], which was investigating its sale of church bonds. A government administrator in [[Fort Worth]], Texas, had told Tharpe that the church had two weeks before it must declare [[bankruptcy]], but Jack's trip quickly resolved the matter.<ref>Jimmy G. Tharpe, Sr., ''Mr. Baptist'' (Springfield, [[Missouri]]: 21st Century Press, 2003), pp. 71-74.</ref>
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| | ==Personal life== | | ==Personal life== |