Melvin Blanchard was born in 1930 and grew up in Houma, starting work as a roustabout for a contract company in 1949. He served two years in the armed forces and has held jobs with 7 different companies, including Chancewell Service, Magnolia, Sea Drilling, Inc, Dresser Industries and Maritime Oil Company. He worked both onshore and offshore on rigs and was involved in drilling and pushing tools.