Next year, we will release our "Register of significant Places of Memories of French presence in the United States of America

Also, we are planning to dedicate some significant plaques and markers, as well as expanding our reach geographically with Regional Delegates. And, stay tuned for news about our new website, to be launched very soon!

March 14: we celebrated Virginia's Lafayette Day in Yorktown, and joined many members of the American Friends of Lafayette for a first post-lockdown meeting. House Joint Resolution No. 797, designated March 14 as a Day of Honor for Major General de Lafayette in Virginia. Photo: Chuck Schwam, COO of the American Friends of Lafayette and Thierry Chaunu, celebrating warm bonds of friendship between our two associations.

March 27: the American Society of le Souvenir Français and the Federation of French War Veterans were present at the Vietnam War Monument in Lower Manhattan in honor of "Vietnam War Veterans Day 2021". Several French-American dual nationals from New York, drafted at the time, made the ultimate sacrifice and a list is being compiled. Our thanks to Ryan Hegg, Executive Director, In Their Footsteps, Inc. and in charge of Legacy and Education at the United War Veterans Council for including us.

April 10: responding to a call from Chuck Schwam, COO, and Robert Kelly Jr., Vice President of the American Friends of Lafayette, a group of volunteers joined forces on a Saturday morning in Yorktown, Virginia to clean up and embellish the "French Cemetery" .

May 2, 2021: we were honored to participate in the annual commemoration of the "French Alliance Day" at Valley Forge, PA. In accordance to General George Washington's instructions, a celebration mass is held every year in May to thank France for its Treaty of Alliance with the United States signed in Paris on February 6, 1778 and ratified by Congress on May 4th of the same year, "by which France, first of all nations, recognized the Independence of the United States". The Washington Memorial Chapel is located in the middle of the historic battlefield, and is among the most beautiful places of worship in America.

The event was organized by the Washington Memorial Heritage and

the Washington Memorial Chapel,

Our special thanks to David Lauhoff, president, Washington Memorial Heritage, M.P. Bomersbach, Gardiner Pearson, past presidents, Peter Adams, Father Tommy Thomson, Rector, Pat Nogar, Warden, Washington Memorial Chapel for their warm welcome and friendship.

May 17: we joined Julien Icher, president of the LafayetteTrail.org and the Daughters of the American Revolution and the American Friends of Lafayette, at the dedication ceremony of a marker at USAG Fort Hamilton, near the Verrazano bridge, as one of a series of markers placed wherever General de Lafayette stayed during his triumphal visit of the United States from August 1824 until September 1825, at the invitation of President James Madison as "Guest of the Nation". Our association proudly supports this gigantic endeavor, and in particular the series on YouTube "Follow the Frenchmen" that Julien Icher so brilliantly produces. #followthefrenchmen

May 18: we paid tribute to the "doughboys" who died in the poppy fields of Flanders at the Clinton Park Memorial. Every year, at the invitation of Yves Wantens, General Representative of the Flanders Government, Belgium Consulate, the Federation of French War Veterans attend the ceremony at Clinton Park, Manhattan, to commemorate the five battles of Flanders from 1914 until 1918.

Photo: re-enactors, Deputy Consul General of France in NY Mr. Damien Laban, Alain Dupuis, Henri Dubarry, Daniel Falgerho

As part of a weeklong celebration of Memorial Day, on May 23 we commemorated in Hoboken, NJ, the Centennial of the return from Cherbourg and Anvers of over 5,100 caskets on board the USS Wheaton. This ceremony was held under the auspices of the National Leadership, The American Legion, the National Leadership, the American Gold Star Mothers, Mr. Jérémie Robert, Consul General of France in New York and Mr. Yves Wantens, General Representative of the Government of Flanders, Belgium Consulate.

Photo: Mr. Jérémie Robert, General Consul of France in New York, and Alain Dupuis, president of the Federation of French War Veterans, threw a wreath in the waters of Hoboken harbor at the exact same place where President Warren Harding officiated a hundred years ago

On May 25, Richard Azzaro, co-Founder of the Society of Honor Guard, Tomb of Unknown Soldier, led a ceremony at the French Cemetery of Yorktown with Homer Lanier, Eric Buchanan, Patrick K. O'Donnell and many other distinguished members, in honor of the 50 French unknown soldiers and sailors buried there, in effect "adopting them" as one of their own.

On May 30 we gathered in front to the Seventh Regiment Memorial on Fifth Avenue & 67th Street for a ceremony led by Brig. General Tom Principe, of the New York Army National Guard. The Seventh Regiment was visited by the Marquis de Lafayette during his triumphal tour of 1824. This is when the term "National Guard" was adopted, in tribute to his command of the French "Garde Nationale" during the French Revolution, and the appellation was gradually adopted by all the US States. After the ceremony, with the French War Veterans, led by their president Alain Dupuis, we went to the 307th Infantry Memorial Grove inside Central Park, where we paid tribute to the 14 plaques of the 14 companies of the famed regiment with US flags and proper military salute. To all Veterans, we say "Thank You for your Service".

September 10: this day was one of the highlights of the year and the culmination of months of efforts and teamwork: the two French Navy Officers of the frigate Hermione buried in 1781 at Trinity Churchyard, Newport, Rhode Island, Major Pierre du Rousseau, Chevalier de Fayolle, and 2nd Lt. Benjamin de la Villemarais, were honored with the dedication of two grave markers, placed next to the tomb of Admiral de Ternay, Commander of the French Fleet in the presence of Mr. Arnaud Mentré, Consul General of France in Boston.

Our special thanks to Johnny Carawan, Trail Administrator, National Park Service, who tirelessly supervised and led everyone involved in the project. Among dignitaries present at this ceremony, Alan Hoffman, president Chuck Schwam, COO, American Friends of Lafayette, Julie Diddell, National Vice Chair, Ellen von Karajan, Executive Director of the Washington-Rochambeau revolutionary Route (W3R-US), Dr. Robert A. Selig, Historian, W3R-US, Rev. Canon Timothy Watt, Rector, Trinity Church, Charlotte Johnson, Trinity Church historian, Andrew Snook, President, Alliance Française de Newport, Master Sergeant (Ret), USAF Band, Jari Villanueva, Bugler, Ruth S. Taylor, Executive Director, and Elizabeth Sulock, Director of Public Programs, Newport Historical Society, Richard Azzaro and Will King, Society of Honor Guard, Tomb of Unknown Soldier, Gardiner Pearson, past president, Washington Memorial Heritage, and Laura Pearson, Norman Desmarais, professor emeritus, Providence College, Adam Hodges-Leclaire, public historian, Mr. Marc Somnolet, president of the French-American Chamber of Commerce in New York, Mr. Monty Tilles, former Consul of the United States in Paris, Col Burton C. Quist, Alain Letort of Washington DC, and all distinguished guests, many of whom came from far away, who joined for such an unforgettable tribute.

October 16: along with the Federation of French War Veterans, the American Society of Le Souvenir Français participated in the commemoration of the American victory of Saratoga in 1777 and the allied French and American victory of Yorktown in 1781 at St Paul's Church in Lower Manhattan, in the presence of Mr. Jérémie Robert, Consul General of France in New York. This event is held annually by the Lower Manhattan Historical Association and its Constituent Organizations: Veteran Corps of Artillery, Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York, Culture Now, First Continental Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, Institute of History, Archeology, and Education, The Chinatown Partnership. Our thanks to Ambrose Madison Richardson, President of the Lower Manhattan Historical Association, Geraldine Kaplan, Colonial Dames of America, Elyse Richardson, Daughters of the American Revolution, James S. Kaplan, former president, Lower Manhattan Historical Association, Peter C. Hein, Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York, Sergio Villavicencio, Vice President, Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society, Peter Feinman, founder and president of the Institute of History, Archaeology, and Education, and the Veterans Corps of Artillery of the State of New York Color Guard, for their warm welcome. We observed a minute of silence for our comrade Lt(H) French Air Force Frédéric P. Vigneron, who passed away earlier in February and who had been very active for years with the Lower Manhattan Historical Association. R.I.P.

October 18: the statue of Rochambeau was added to those of Washington, La Fayette and de Grasse at the river front in Yorktown, Virginia. The statues standing at Riverwalk Landing were only two when inaugurated in 2005: General George Washington, Commander of the American forces and Admiral Francois DeGrasse, Commander of the French Fleet. On October 18, 2017, General Lafayette joined them, and on October 18, 2021, General Comte de Rochambeau joined his comrades-in-arms and the conversation for eternity.

Chuck Schwam officiated as Master of Ceremonies, with Ms. Nicole Yancey, former Honorary Consul of France in Virginia, and Regional Delegate of the American Society of Le Souvenir Français, along with Larry Abbel, National Chair, Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route (W3R-US), Colonel Aymeric Tardieu de Maleyssie, Steve Williams, Deputy Superintendent at Colonial National Historic Park (NPS), Mark Jakobowski, VP, Sons of the Revolution in Virginia, Walter Judd, Celebrate Yorktown Comittee, Ernest Sutton, Surgeon General, National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, who delivered inspiring remarks on this great soldier. Alan Hoffman, President, American Friends of Lafayette, and Patrick Kelly, Trustee, SAR France, laid a wreath. Also present among the many distinguished guests were Dr. Robert A. Selig, PhD, Historian specialist of the Revolutionary War and Historical Consultant to the National Park Service for the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route, and Julien Icher, president of the LafayetteTrail.org.

On Tuesday, October 19, we celebrated the 240th anniversary of the combined French-American victory in Yorktown, Virginia, which led to the Independence of the United States. At 8:45AM we laid a wreath at the French Cemetery where 50 unknown French sailors are buried in a mass grave, and at 9:45AM we gathered at the French Memorial Monument which lists the names of some 600 French soldiers and sailors who gave their lives for the cause of Freedom. At 11:00AM patriotic exercises were held at the Victory Monument. The standard of the American Society of Le Souvenir Français was present at all three ceremonies, in the presence of Mr. François Penguilly, Consul General of France in Washington, and Mrs. Nicole Yancey, former Honorary Consul of France in Virginia, and current Regional Delegate of the American Society of Le Souvenir Français. Colonel Aymeric Tardieu de Maleissye gave remarks at the French Memorial, with Lt. Colonel Alain Abad commanding the detachment of several Officers and personnel from the French Army, French Navy and French Air Force stationed at NATO Command in nearby Norfolk.

Special thanks to Mrs. Brigitte van den Hove-Smith, of Naples, Florida, also a member of Le Souvenir Français in Seine-et-Marne, who so graciously held the French flag, to Chuck Schwam, COO of the American Friends of Lafayette, who was the Master of Ceremony at the French Cemetery, to P. Jeffrey Lambert, COO at The American Revolution Consortium for Civic Education, to Homer Lanier at the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, who gave us a memorable presentation of 21 gun-salute in period uniforms, and all distinguished organizers, guests and attendees for this special day celebrating more than two centuries of French-American alliance and friendship.

October 24: Mr. Philippe Germain, representing Le Souvenir Français in Paris and its president-general, Contrôleur Général des Armées (2s) Serge Barcellini, flew to the US on the occasion of the Centennial of the return of the US Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Virginia, while several ceremonies where held in France at the same time to reaffirm the historic bonds of alliance and friendship between our two nations. Our special gratitude to Richard A.Azzaro, Co-founder, Society of the Honor Guard, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, for organizing an additional side ceremony honoring 9 French officers and soldiers from WW1 buried in Arlington, of whom 8 died for France ("Morts pour la France"), laying a white rose on each grave, as well as a tribute at the mausoleum of French-American military engineer Major Pierre l'Enfant, who laid plans for the City of Washington DC. (A marker was erected by the Mausoleum in 1995 by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and The American Society of Le Souvenir Francais)

Photo by the Mausoleum courtesy of Richard Azzaro: Philippe Germain, Richard A Azzaro, Charles “Cochise” Shacochis and Joe Neubeiser, Bruno Bourg-Broc, Kevin Monfils

On October 25, Thierry Chaunu, president of the American Society of Le Souvenir Français, along with Alain Dupuis, president of the Federation of French War Veterans and 2nd vice-president of the American Society of Le Souvenir Français, attended the Centennial Anniversary of the Return of the Unknown Soldier on board the USS Olympia in Philadelphia.The USS Olympia flew the French Flag during this incredibly moving ceremony, with the United State Navy Band playing the Marseillaise, the Star-Spangled Banner, several French military marches, and a 21 gun salute, after a Drill Demonstration by the United States Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon. Peter S. Seibert, Independence Seaport Museum, President & CEO, the Honorable Jim Kenney, Mayor of Philadelphia, Brigadier General Walker M. Field, President, Marine Corps University, Colonel Sébastien Pauly, Deputy Defense Cooperation Attaché, represented the Embassy of France addressed the audience. A video tribute to the enduring alliance and friendship between our two nations can be seen by clicking on the photo above or clicking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYKdKOjBefU

Our gratitude and thanks to the Society of Honor Guard / Tomb of Unknown Soldier for their tireless work to keep honoring all those brave soldiers who died for the cause of Freedom, and their brotherhood with their French comrades-in-arms, as well as Michael Flynn, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Alexis Furlong, Public Relations, and Greg Williams of the Independence Seaport Museum for their warm welcome.

October 30: the Federation of French War Veterans, the American Society of Le Souvenir Français and the Association of French Reserve Officers in the United States (ACREFEU) with faithful friends to pay homage to their departed comrades in the annual ceremonies at Flushing Cemetery and at Cypress Hills National Cemetery.

In the first event we honored particularly Eugene Bullard, the "first Black American fighter pilot in history". Click on the top photo above to learn more about this extraordinary hero of our two nations.

Following this, we proceeded to Cypress Hills National Cemetery where 25 French Sailors of World War One are buried.

Col. Terrance Holliday and Mr. Damien Laban laid a wreath in front of the monument to the memory of the French Sailors, Patrick du Tertre and Thierry Chaunu laid a wreath in the name of the French War Veterans, Le Souvenir Français, and the Association of French Reserve Officers.

November 6: the annual ceremony paying tribute to the French officers, soldiers and sailors who died and were interred in Providence, R.I. at the time of the French Army's presence in Rhode Island, was held with several volunteers re-enactors led by Prof. Norman Desmarais, professor Emeritus, Providence College.

We are grateful to Prof. Desmarais and all the volunteers for tirelessly honoring the memories of all these valiant Frenchmen who died for the cause of Freedom and are resting for eternity in the United States.  

November 7: the traditional mass in memory of the French veterans and American Volunteers from New York who fought in two world wars in the French Army at Notre Dame Church in Manhattan, where the names of some 463 new-yorkers are memorialized on bronze plaques.

Photo by Daniel Falgerho: After the ceremony, on the steps of the church: Paul Garabedian, Jean Legall, Michel Dumerchat, Henri Dubarry, Michel Longchampt, Major Carl Dionou-Weiss, Deputy Consul General of France Damien Laban, Thierry Chaunu, Father Holleran, Patrick du Tertre, Alain Dupuis.

Armistice Day, November 11: members of the American Society of Le Souvenir Français joined several US and French Veterans and Patriotic associations in the annual parade in New York's 5th Avenue: the Federation of French War Veterans, the French Reserve Officers association in the United States (ACREFEU). Two giant US and French flags of the FrenchWillNeverForget.org were deployed and held by more than 80 Boy Scouts, led by the fanfare of the **Cadets Lafayette. Our thanks to Natalie Yates and all the parents and volunteers of Troop#1 for their participation and their enthusiasm. We are sending a Certificate of Appreciation to these fine young citizens!

Top: members of the Cadet Lafayette marching band with past president of the French War Veterans André Ferrara playing the bass drum.

Middle: scouts from Troop #1 getting ready to jump into action!

Bottom: French active, reserve and honorary officers getting ready to march on 5th Avenue.

During "Black History Month" we paid tribute to Eugene Bullard, this long-forgotten American hero, who enrolled as a volunteer in the French Army, fought with bravery and was wounded during the cataclysmic Battle of Verdun (400,000 dead!) in 1916, and enlisted as a fighter pilot in 1917 in the French Air Force. He re-enlisted in 1940 and fought valiantly against the Nazi hordes. Decorated with the Croix de Guerre with palms, the Legion of Honor (by General de Gaulle in 1959), buried in 1960 in the French War Veterans lot of Cypress Hills, Long Island, and declared by the US AIr Force "The first black fighter pilot in history" in 2008. (Click on the photo for direct access to our February Bulletin)

In March we told the story of these two gallant French Navy Officers who died and were buried in Newport, Rhode Island, and announced the upcoming dedication of two grave markers in the historic Trinity Church cemetery, alongside our partners at the National Park Service, the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route (W3R-US), and the American Friends of Lafayette. (Click on the photo for direct access to our March Bulletin)

In May we told the relatively unknown story of all the thousands of French Air Force cadets who came to train in US Air Force bases alongside British Royal Air Force pilots. 163 lost their lives during training and are buried in military cemeteries in Alabama and Michigan.

We continued the story in July with many anecdotes of the march through Connecticut and the junction with the Continental Army in Westchester County in New York.

In August we narrated the brilliant strategy of the combined French and American forces to bypass New York, deceive British general Clinton, and rush to Yorktown through New Jersey to confront Lord Cornwallis.

With the decisive Battle of the Capes off the coast of Virginia on September 5th, 1781, Admiral de Grasse ensured that the British army would be trapped in Yorktown and allowed the combined French and American forces to start the victorious siege the following month. Upon hearing of the news, General George Washington departed from his legendary composure and danced of joy, embracing General Rochambeau, startling all the witnesses present.

In October, we remembered the victorious siege in Yorktown of October 19, 1781 which paved the way for the Independence of the United States.

This is a free program that is open to the public. Also, please feel free to share this invitation and invite a friend.

Link to join (no registration required): https://sciencespo.zoom.us/j/6071023164

• To preserve the memory of the French soldiers, sailors and airmen who gave their lives for freedom, and who are buried in the United States.

• To honor French Citizens who did great deeds in the United States, or with a strong connection with the United States, 

• To promote the appreciation for French culture and heritage in the United States, and the ideals that unite our two nations, in order to pass the torch of memory to younger generations.

• To strengthen the long-standing traditional bonds of friendship between the American and French peoples, and to this end: erect or maintain memorials and monuments and encourage historical research, public presentations and publications in the media. 

In the United States, the American Society of Le Souvenir Français (Souvenir Français USA) has been represented since the First World War by a General Delegate, among whom were Dr Jules Pierre, MM. Bruno Kaiser, Colonel Roger Cestac, Christian Bickert, Mathieu Petitjean, and Jean Lachaud. The association is presided since November 2020 by CC(H) Thierry Chaunu (H) Lt Cdr., French Navy.

AN EASY WAY TO GIVE

Did you know that a portion of every purchase you make on Amazon can benefit American Society of Le Souvenir Francais Inc, at no cost to you?

Simply go to: smile.amazon.com, designate American Society of Le Souvenir Francais Inc. as your beneficiary, and shop away!

Email: tchaunu@SouvenirFrancaisUSA.org Mobile: 646-732-1822