We are pleased to share with you this photo album of the new granite memorial we dedicated on Sunday, October 18, in Yorktown, Virginia, next to our interpretive marker honoring Admiral de Grasse and the French Navy, dedicated in 2022.

Thank you for your dues and donations that make such tributes possible, and our special thanks to the Sons of the Revolution and the Virginia Society of the Sons of the Revolution for their contribution and partnership!

IN HONOR OF FRENCH SAILORS and SOLDIERS

WHO FOUGHT AT SEA AND

DIED FOR THE INDEPENDENCE OF

THE UNITED STATES

There is a bronze plaque installed near the French Memorial Monument on the Yorktown battlefield detailing the losses incurred by the French Navy for each of the 61 warships engaged in the Western theater of operations during the entire War of Independence. The total is 3,520.

This plaque was installed in1971 by Le Souvenir Français, prior to the erection of the Monument by Le Souvenir Français and the Federation of French War Veterans, which was inaugurated in 1989.

In this special year, which marks the 250^th anniversary of the United States and the 400th anniversary of the French Navy, we are proud to pay tribute to all the sailors (and embarked soldiers) who fought at sea and died during this epic struggle.

Most died in combat, in naval engagements along the Eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean. Others perished at sea, from scurvy or other illnesses, on the voyage to America or on the way home. Many succumbed in hospitals, from Rhode Island to Virginia and in Martinique and Guadeloupe, to illness or to wounds received in battle.

Those who died in hospitals rest in mass graves, their precise locations not always known. The majority of those who died at sea were thrown overboard to rest at the bottom of the ocean, as was customary at the time, and have no proper burial.

It is to them that this granite memorial is dedicated.

We salute the courage of all those who died far from home and their loved ones, for a noble cause and a country most of them never set foot in.

Above: From left to right: Capitaine de Frégate (CDR) Julien Dechanet, French Navy, COL Antoine Fleuret, French Army, and Thierry Chaunu, General Delegate of Le Souvenir Français for the United States, unveiling the granite memorial.

Above: Members of the French Armed Forces saluting after the unveiling (Left: Mark Jakobowski, General President, Sons of the Revolution, and President, Sons of the Revolution in the Commonwealth of Virginia, co-sponsor of the memorial)

Above: Clockwise, top to bottom: Mark Jakobowski, Général de Division (Major General) Vincent de Kytspotter, Lieutenant-Colonel (LCL) Nicolas Lottenberg, French Army, COL Joseph “Joe” Buche, US Army (Ret) former commander of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) and Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Foundation of The Old Guard, representing the Society of the Honor Guard, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Robert Kelly, Jr., Regional Delegate of Le Souvenir Français for Virginia, Opera singer Laura Heydt singing the Star-Spangled Banner and La Marseillaise, Sheila S. Noll, Chair, York County Board of Supervisors, welcoming the new addition to Yorktown Riverwalk, CF Julien Dechanet and Gen. Rochambeau (Eric Dutaud), Thierry Chaunu thanking the Steering Committee for the work done to implement this project on Riverwalk. More than 2 million tourists visit Yorktown every year!

Above: Members of French Armed forces, NATO-Norfolk

Above: Left to right: COL Antoine Fleuret, Major General Vincent de Kytspotter, French Army, conversing with General Count of Rochambeau (Eric Dutaud). Thierry Chaunu

Above: Left to right:,

Top : Thierry Chaunu and Robert Kelly, Jr., COL Timothy Stoy, US Army, (Ret.) Gen. & Mrs. de Kytspotter, Capt. Monika Stoy, US Army (Ret), president, Outpost 5845 International, Society of the 3rd Infantry Division. Rock of the Marne!

Middle: Left to right: Chuck Schwam (Executive Director, American Friends of Lafayette), Thierry Chaunu and COL Pierre Oury, USAF (Ret.) , Mme l'Amiral Pierre Vandier, C.F. Julien et Mme Dechanet,

Bottom: Eric Dutaud as General Rochambeau, Thierry Chaunu, Larry Abell (National Chairman and Board Chair of W3R-US, formally known as the National Washington Rochambeau Revolutionary Route Association)

Members of the Steering Committee (2025-2026)

(Alphabetical order)

Thierry CHAUNU, Warren DEAL, CDR Julien DECHANET,

GEN Nicolas DURAND, COL Antoine FLEURET,

LCL Laurent GASTEAU, Robert KELLY Jr.,

LCL Nicolas KOUDINOFFF, P.J. LAMBERT,

LCL Nicolas LOTTENBERG, RDML Frédéric de RUPILLY,

COL Olivier SAUNIER, Dr. Robert A SELIG, Ph.D.

In Memoriam:
Nicole YANCEY

Our heartfelt thanks to Robert Kelly Jr., Regional Delegate for Virginia,

whose leadership and dedication carried this project forward

after the loss of Nicole Yancey and made this dedication possible.

Our gratitude to Sheila S. Noll, Chair,

and the entire York County Board of Supervisors

for approving the installation of this lasting memorial on Riverwalk.

Our sincere appreciation to Laura Heydt

for her stirring rendition of our national anthems,

and to

Eric Dutaud for his portrayal of

General Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau.

Our thanks to the St. Paul VI Catholic High School Fife & Drum Corps

(the PVI Corps), under the direction of Roy Wulf,

for their brilliant performance of traditional military tunes.

Our compliments to Adam Taylor of Hogg Memorial Consultants

for the design, craftsmanship, and installation of the memorial.

Our special thanks to all in attendance

who gathered in remembrance

of the bravery and sacrifice of all the French sailors and soldiers

who died for American Independence

and who, laid to rest in the ocean, have no tomb but the sea.

Photo credits: Courtesy of Kat Smith and the American Friends of Lafayette, Brad Fay (Left photo, 8th row), Capt. Monika Stoy (Right photo, 8th row), and of Robert Jansen (2nd, 4th & last row)