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In 1986, Bacqué was the founding chairman of Leadership Lafayette, a program sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce to train community leaders.<ref name=acadian>{{cite web|url=http://www.acadianabusiness.com/turk-file/1306|title=Turk File 07.25.2007|publisher=acadianabusiness.com|accessdate=April 21, 2014}}</ref>​

In 1986, Bacqué was the founding chairman of Leadership Lafayette, a program sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce to train community leaders.<ref name=acadian>{{cite web|url=http://www.acadianabusiness.com/turk-file/1306|title=Turk File 07.25.2007|publisher=acadianabusiness.com|accessdate=April 21, 2014}}</ref>​

 

On October 24, 1987, Bacqué unseated the [[pro-life]] [[Republican Party|Republican]] state Representative [[Michael  F. Thompson]] in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]].  Thompson led a three-candidate field with 7,345 votes (45 percent) to Bacqué's 6,473 (40 percent). The remaining but critical 2,377 votes were polled by the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Vance Lanier.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 24, 1987.</ref> In the November 21 [[general election]], the Lanier backers swung strongly to Bacqué, who prevailed, 6,811 (57 percent) to Thompson's 5,106 ballots (43 percent). Thompson's defeat was also attributed to the failure of some 2,200 Republican voters who participated in the primary to return to the polls for the second round of balloting. The successful Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, [[Paul Hardy]], won in Lafayette Parish over the Democratic incumbent [[Robert Freeman]] at the same time that Thompson was going down to defeat.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 21, 1987.</ref>​

On October 24, 1987, Bacqué unseated the [[pro-life]] [[Republican Party|Republican]] state Representative [[Michael  F. Thompson]] in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]].  Thompson led a three-candidate field with 7,345 votes (45 percent) to Bacqué's 6,473 (40 percent). The remaining but critical 2,377 votes were polled by the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Vance Lanier.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 24, 1987.</ref> In the November 21 [[general election]], the Lanier backers swung strongly to Bacqué, who prevailed, 6,811 (57 percent) to Thompson's 5,106 ballots (43 percent). Thompson's defeat was also attributed to the failure of some 2,200 Republican voters who participated in the primary to return to the polls for the second round of balloting. The successful Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, [[Paul Hardy]], won in Lafayette Parish over the Democratic incumbent [[Robert Freeman]] at the same time that Thompson was going down to defeat.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 21, 1987.</ref>​

 

As a freshman legislator, Bacqué stood alone in 1991, when he attempted to deny seating to newly elected representative [[David Duke]], a former figure in the [[Ku Klux Klan]], on the grounds that Duke was not a legal resident of his district. When Duke's election opponent, fellow Republican [[John Treen]], failed in a court challenge, Duke was seated but without Bacqué's acquiescence.<ref>[[Ron Gomez]], "David Duke? He's Just Another Freshman,"  ''My Name Is Ron And I'm a Recovering Legislator: Memoirs of a Louisiana State Representative'' (Lafayette, Louisiana:: Zemog Publishing, 2000, pp. 157-164; ISBN 0-9700156-0-7.</ref>​

As a freshman legislator, Bacqué stood alone in 1991, when he attempted to deny seating to newly elected representative [[David Duke]], a former figure in the [[Ku Klux Klan]], on the grounds that Duke was not a legal resident of his district. When Duke's election opponent, fellow Republican [[John Treen]], failed in a court challenge, Duke was seated but without Bacqué's acquiescence.<ref>[[Ron Gomez]], "David Duke? He's Just Another Freshman,"  ''My Name Is Ron And I'm a Recovering Legislator: Memoirs of a Louisiana State Representative'' (Lafayette, Louisiana:: Zemog Publishing, 2000, pp. 157-164; ISBN 0-9700156-0-7.</ref>​

 

In 2007, Lafayette City and Parish President Joey Durel named Bacqué to fill the unexpired term of Don Higginbotham on the Lafayette Regional Airport Commission. Higginbotham, a Democrat-turned-Republican, had earlier served with Bacqué in the state House.<ref name=acadian/>​

In 2007, Lafayette City and Parish President Joey Durel named Bacqué to fill the unexpired term of Don Higginbotham on the Lafayette Regional Airport Commission. Higginbotham, a Democrat-turned-Republican, had earlier served with Bacqué in the state House.<ref name=acadian/>​

 

In 2010 Bacqué served for five months on the Lafayette Charter Commission.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mikestaggforlafayette.com/?tag=odon-bacque-jr|title=Odon Bacqué, Jr.|publisher=mikestaggforlafayette.com|accessdate=April 21, 2014}}</ref>​

In 2010, Bacqué served for five months on the Lafayette Charter Commission.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mikestaggforlafayette.com/?tag=odon-bacque-jr|title=Odon Bacqué, Jr.|publisher=mikestaggforlafayette.com|accessdate=April 21, 2014}}</ref>​

 

In 2014, Bacqué was a political donor to Democratic [[U.S. Senator]] [[Mary Landrieu]], who failed in her bid for a fourth term in the runoff election held on December 6. He has also contributed to his own Lafayette-area then congressman, Republican Charles Boustany, Jr.,  of Louisiana's 3rd congressional district.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/odon-bacque.asp?cycle=14|title=Odon Bacqué Political Campaign Contributions: 2014 Election Cycle|publisher=campaignmoney.com|accessdate=July 8, 2020}}</ref>​

In 2014, Bacqué was a political donor to Democratic [[U.S. Senator]] [[Mary Landrieu]], who failed in her bid for a fourth term in the runoff election held on December 6. He has also contributed to his own Lafayette-area then congressman, Republican Charles Boustany, Jr.,  of Louisiana's 3rd congressional district.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/odon-bacque.asp?cycle=14|title=Odon Bacqué Political Campaign Contributions: 2014 Election Cycle|publisher=campaignmoney.com|accessdate=July 8, 2020}}</ref>​

 

==Non-fiction writer==​

==Non-fiction writer==

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In 2014, Bacqué published the e-book entitled ''A Walk in the Park: A Vietnam Comedy,'' which examines comic situations that he encountered in the military but without the cynicism of such well-known [[novel]]s as ''[[Catch 22]]'' or ''MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors.'' Bacqué told the reporter Bill Decker of ''The Lafayette Daily Advertiser'' that his "experience wasn't heroic. It was comedic. ... Those things that we did to occupy that time is what most young people do when they’re in a crazy situation."<ref name=bdecker>{{cite web|url=http://archive.theadvertiser.com/article/20140412/NEWS01/304120019/Acadiana-People-Bacque-s-book-tells-war-stories-from-behind-lines|title=Bill Decker, Acadiana People: Bacqué's book tells war stories from behind the lines, April 13, 2014|publisher=''Lafayette Daily Advertiser''|accessdate=April 21, 2014}}</ref>​

In 2014, Bacqué published the e-book entitled ''A Walk in the Park: A Vietnam Comedy,'' which examines comic situations that he encountered in the military but without the cynicism of such well-known [[novel]]s as ''[[Catch 22]]'' or ''MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors.'' Bacqué told the reporter Bill Decker of ''The Lafayette Daily Advertiser'' that his "experience wasn't heroic. It was comedic. ... Those things that we did to occupy that time is what most young people do when they’re in a crazy situation."<ref name=bdecker>{{cite web|url=http://archive.theadvertiser.com/article/20140412/NEWS01/304120019/Acadiana-People-Bacque-s-book-tells-war-stories-from-behind-lines|title=Bill Decker, Acadiana People: Bacqué's book tells war stories from behind the lines, April 13, 2014|publisher=''Lafayette Daily Advertiser''|accessdate=April 21, 2014}}</ref>​

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Bacqué had mistakenly believed that his poor eyesight would spare him from combat. Forty years after his military service ended, Bacqué found that his memories were fading until, when he was moving to another house, he found some wartime letters that he had written to his wife, the former Carola Lipsey (born November 12, 1946), known as "Cookie" Bacqué, by whom he has two daughters, Leslie and Emily. The letters quickly rekindled his Vietnam experience and enabled him to write his book.<ref name=bdecker/>

Bacqué had mistakenly believed that his poor eyesight would spare him from combat. Forty years after his military service ended, Bacqué found that his memories were fading until, when he was moving to another house, he found some wartime letters that he had written to his wife, the former Carola Lipsey (born November 12, 1946), known as "Cookie" Bacqué, by whom he has two daughters, Leslie and Emily. The letters quickly rekindled his Vietnam experience and enabled him to write his book.<ref name=bdecker/>

==References==

==References==