Sending Saddam a Greeting January 1993
Chief Petty Officer, U.S. Navy
A 2013 LSU graduate with a degree in history, Chief Petty Officer Larry Rabalais grew up in Plaucheville, Louisiana. After high school, he joined the Navy “to do something bigger, to support my country.” After serving at Naval Air Stations in San Diego, California; Fallon, Nevada; and Whidbey, Washington, Rabalais was assigned to the powerful USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier.
During his duty hours, Rabalais took a moment away from arming an EA-6B Prowler aircraft on the deck of the USS Kitty Hawk to pen a greeting on the bomb to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. It was during the Persian Gulf War in 1993. “Just finishing what you started, Saddam!!” Rabalais wrote, instantly becoming an international front-page-news sensation. During another break, Rabalais put his life on the line to save a fellow crewman from drowning. His duty hours were never boring.
After his message to Saddam, Rabalais’ shipmates brought him the newspaper story and pictures taken by an Associated Press reporter. It was overwhelming and uplifting for him, but after he returned to the states, he learned how powerful the image was. In his next job, he became a top recruiter in the Navy recruiting office.
Back at home in Louisiana, Rabalais was driving to meet his family and noticed a pickup truck sinking in the bayou. He thought he saw someone in the cab and once again, with no thought for his own safety, he jumped in, swam out to the truck. and smashed the window. Immediately, water rushed in, taking Larry, and the boy he was holding, straight down. “It was like God had his hand on me,” he said. Somehow, he found his way out of the truck, through the murky water to the surface, and with the breath he had left, pushed the boy to the shore and to safety.
Larry was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for Heroism and he also received the Louisiana Medal for Exceptional Bravery. For his service to his country, he was awarded two Navy Achievement Medals and the Navy Commendation Medal. Chief Petty Officer Vincent “Larry” Rabalais embodies the true, heroic spirit and tradition of LSU military alumni and the Ole War Skule.