Six LSU Law Center alumni, including the namesake of the LSU Law Center, the late Dean Paul M. Hebert, are among the dozen distinguished LSU alumni who will be honored during the 2011 LSU Salutes, November 10-12, 2011. LSU Salutes, sponsored by the university and Cadets of the Ole War Skule, is an annual celebration of the contributions of U.S. veterans, in particular those who attended LSU and served in ROTC.
On Saturday, November 12, 2011, these distinguished alumni will be inducted to LSU’s military Hall of Fame. This is an honor bestowed upon those who have distinguished themselves in their military, professional and personal endeavors. The inductees include the following Law Center alumni: the late George L.J. Dalferes, of Kensington, Maryland, Col., U.S. Air Force (ret.); Billy H. Ezell, of Lake Charles, Capt., U.S. Army; the late Paul M. Hebert, Col., U.S. Army/U.S. Army Reserve; the late Norman V. Kinsey, of Shreveport, 2nd Lt., U.S. Army Air Corps; the late Lloyd F. Love, of Ferriday, Maj., U.S. Army Air Corps; and Ralph W. Stephenson, Jr., Lt. Col., U.S. Air Force (ret.).
The late George L.J. Dalferes earned a J.D. in 1949 from LSU Law.
Dalferes served as an intelligence and reconnaissance platoon leader in the 84th Infantry Division during World War II. In 1952 he was mobilized for the Korean War and served in the U.S. Air Force as an aide to Lt. General Frank Armstrong, commander of the Alaskan Command. His other assignments included attorney/counselor, Supreme Court of the United States; Judge Advocate General, Colorado Springs, Colo.; Staff Advocate Judge, Clark Air Base, Philippines; deputy assistant to the Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon; and director/legal assistance and chief, International Law Division, Office of the Command Judge Advocate, Headquarters Air Force Command. He graduated from the War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Ala., in 1967 and retired from the military in 1973.
Dalferes’ awards include the Bronze Star with V Device, Legion of Merit, Air Force Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Custer, the Outstanding Exponent of the Rule of Law Award, and he was inducted into the OCS (Officer Candidate School) Hall of Fame.
After retirement from the Air Force, Dalferes joined Martin Marietta Corporation as vice president of government affairs. He received the Michoud Award for his work on the space shuttle fuel tank program and was named to Who’s Who in Government in 1971.
Billy H. Ezell received his J.D. from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1970. Commissioned through LSU ROTC, Ezell attended Officer Basic Course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in 1970 and served nine months in Vietnam before his discharge in 1971.
His military awards include National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Bronze Star, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal w/60 Dev Rifle M-16 (Exp). He received the Bronze Star for meritorious achievement in ground operations against hostile forces in the fall of 1970.
Ezell has been a judge on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal for nine years and resides in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
The late Paul M. Hebert attended LSU from 1924-29, earning A.B. and LL.B. degrees and achieving Order of the Coif at the LSU Law School.
Hebert received a direct commission through the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corp and served on active duty from 1942-46 as a member of JAG and chief of the Industrial Law Branch during World War II. Following the war, he served as a Civilian Judge in the Nuremburg Tribunal in Germany. He was a member of the board of visitors of the Army JAG School at the University of Virginia and continued his military service in the 1960s in the U.S. Army Reserve, rising through the ranks to Colonel.
Hebert was the longest serving dean of the LSU Law School, serving in that role with brief interruptions from 1937 until his death in 1977. Following Hebert’s death, and as a tribute to his exemplary service and career, the LSU Law Center was named the Paul M. Hebert Law Center.
The late Norman V. Kinsey, of Shreveport, Louisiana, attended LSU from 1938-42 earning a bachelor’s degree in business and an LL.B. in 1947.
Kinsey was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps (later U.S. Air Force) through LSU ROTC in 1942 and served in Georgia and South Carolina before joining the invasion force that landed in Morocco, North Africa that November. He served as an administrative officer in North Africa, Palestine, Italy, and Southern France. He was awarded a Bronze Star for exceptional service in support of combat operations, and his unit earned numerous citations.
In civilian life, Kinsey was a member and director of the founding groups of Transco Energy Company, Pacific Northwest Pipeline, Texas-Illinois Natural Gas Pipeline, and Piedmont Natural Gas Company and was involved in management and operations in the oil and gas industry.
The late Lloyd F. Love earned his L.L.B. from LSU Law School in 1942.
Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps (later the U.S. Air Force) through LSU ROTC, Love entered active duty at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and continued pilot training at Aloe Field in Victoria, Texas, and Barksdale Field in Shreveport, Louisiana, training on the Martin-Marauder B-26, also known as the “Widow Maker.” In December 1943, he deployed to Europe (Sardinia) via North Africa and was assigned to the 37th Bomb Squadron, 17th Bomb Group. He flew 73 combat missions in Europe – thought to be the most of any member of the military from Concordia Parish – providing support for the Anzio beachhead and the D-Day Invasion, among other missions. Love survived many close calls during his tour of duty but none more fondly remembered than a blown out tire during takeoff with a live bomb loose in the bomb bay.
After the war, Love opened a private law practice in Ferriday, Louisiana, which he maintained for 47 years. He served as Ferriday city attorney and as chairman of the Concordia Parish Recreation Board and was instrumental in introducing legislation and securing federal funding to build the ring levee in the parish. In 2003 he was honored by the Louisiana Bar Association for his pro bono work.
Ralph W. Stephenson, Jr., of Baton Rouge, earned a J.D. from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1977. Stephenson attended LSU in 1942-43 before entering the U.S. Army Air Corps Cadet Training Program. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant bombardier in 1945 and served on a B-29 air crew until the end of World War II. He entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York and as a cadet was also a member of the Army Reserve where he was promoted to First Lieutenant. He graduated in 1950 as a Second Lieutenant in the newly created U.S. Air Force and entered pilot training on Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas. He received his Pilot Wings at Vance Air Force Base, Enid, Oklahoma, and was assigned to a B-29 crew in the Far East.
Based at Yokota Air Base, Japan, he flew 45 combat missions over North Korea, then returned to Roswell, New Mexico to the Sixth Bomb Wing, flying the B-36. He entered navigator training at James Connally Air Force Base, Texas, and in 1955 became a jet pilot flying the RB-47 at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. In 1959, the first class graduated from the new Air Force Academy and he was selected for duty as Air Force Commanding, supervising the training and discipline of a squadron of Air Force Cadets. Stephenson was tapped for duty in the Far East in 1962, assigned again to Yokota, flying the B-57.
In 1965 he was assigned as assistant professor of aerospace studies at LSU Air Force ROTC Detachment 310, where he served for three years until being ordered to serve as a C-47 pilot in Viet Nam, flying classified missions in 1968-69. He was then assigned to the Alternate National Military Command Center and in 1972 was named Commander of the 1369th Photo Squadron at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
Among his many awards are the Distinguished Flying Cross, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with Seven Oak Leaf Clusters, Joint Services Commendation Medal; Air Force Commendation Medal with Five Oak Leaf Cluster, USAF Combat Readiness Medal; U.S. Vietnam Service Medal with Four Bronze Stars; Korean Defense Service Medal; World War Two Victory Medal; and, Asiatic Pacific Victory Medal.
He retired from the Air Force in 1974.
