The American Society of Le Souvenir Français Inc.
Bulletin Mensuel - Vol. II. No 3 - Mars 2022
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Tribute to
Pioneer Aviator, Writer, Poet, Journalist
Antoine de Saint Exupéry
author of
"The Little Prince"
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EDITORIAL
The motto of our association is: “A nous le Souvenir, à eux l’Immortalité” … “Remembrance is ours, Immortality is theirs”.
This, of course, applies to all those who died for France while defending the cause of freedom.
At the church of Notre-Dame, located at 405 West 114th Street in upper Manhattan, there are several marble and bronze plaques affixed to the wall, with the names of 463 French conscripts and American volunteers who “Died for France” during World War One and World War Two.
Among them is Commandant Antoine de Saint-Exupéry who achieved “immortality” for dying in the line of duty on July 31, 1944, at the commands of an American P-38 Lighter reconnaissance plane, with French Air Force colors on its fuselage.
While very few New-Yorkers and/or tourists know about these rosters of names, hundreds of millions of readers around the world have heard of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s immortal masterpiece, “The Little Prince”, which is both an illustrated children’s book and a philosophical novella.
And this is not hyperbole: "The Little Prince" is the most translated book after the Holy Bible!…
And yet, how many know that “Le Petit Prince” was written entirely in New York, in 1942, and was first published in English in the United States in 1943?...
Sadly, apart from a bronze plaque erected at 3 East 52nd Street by the American Society of Le Souvenir Français a few years ago , there is no statue of “Saint-Ex” in Central Park, or any public park, whether in the “Poets Alley” or elsewhere, nor any sculpture of “The Little Prince”, even in a playground…
Our Board has decided to "go full throttle" and proceed with the selection of a sculptor, launch a fund-raising campaign, while looking for a suitable place in New York City. Our goal is to have a sculpture dedicated in a ceremony on or before July 31, 2024, which will mark the 80th anniversary of Saint-Exupéry’s disappearance in the Mediterranean.
Our newly elected Board of Directors just voted: the statue will be created by renowned French Sculptor Jean-Marc de Pas, whom we are introducing in this newsletter. A Committee will be formed in the coming weeks, a fund raising drive will take place, and we will have many opportunities to “circle back” and update you in the coming months.
Earlier this month we held our General Assembly, which adopted our new By-Laws, and voted for the new Board of Directors. In the ensuing meeting, the newly-elected Board (for 3 years, until March 2025) consists of:
Members (2022-2025 by alphabetical order):
Françoise Cestac, Honorary President
Thierry Chaunu, President
Yves de Ternay, Treasurer
Patrick du Tertre, 1st Vice-President
Henri Dubarry
Francis Dubois
Alain Dupuis, 2nd Vice President
Daniel Falgerho, General Secretary
Pierre Gervois
Caroline Lareuse
Clément Mbom, Education Advisor
Jean-Hugues Monier, Comptroller
Harriet Saxon
Nicole Yancey
Regional Delegates (list in formation):
Nicole Yancey, Yorktown & Virginia, former Honorary Consul of France in Virginia
Jacques Baisnenou, Great Lakes and Midwest
Marc Onetto, West Coast
Brigitte Van den Hove – Smith, SouthEast
We are all looking forward to working together to promote the missions and values of your association in the months to come!
During these tragic times, with the human carnage and horrific destructions we see on TV, how can we not think of Saint Exupéry: “Les pierres du chantier ne sont en vrac qu’en apparence, s’il est, perdu dans le chantier, un homme, serait-il seul, qui pense cathédrale. Translation: A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral. Pilote de Guerre (1942) (translated into English as Flight to Arras)
Thank you for your support with our activities, which all aim to pay tribute to Frenchmen who accomplished memorable deeds in the United States.
Thierry Chaunu
President, on behalf of the Board of Directors.
American Society of Le Souvenir Français, Inc.
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Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ( born in Lyon, 29 June 1900 – died in the Mediterranean, near Marseilles, 31 July 1944), was a French pioneering aviator, Air Force pilot, writer, poet and journalist.
He became a laureate of several of France's highest literary awards such as the Prix Femina for Vol de Nuit (Night Flight, 1931), Terre des Hommes (1939) which won the Grand Prix du Roman de l’Académie Française), translated as Wind, Sand and Stars and winner of United States National Book Award.
While in New York, he published Pilote de Guerre (Flight to Arras, 1942) which is another classic. However he is best remembered as the author of the children book The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) which is the book the most translated after the Bible, and entirely written in New York.
Saint-Exupéry came from a modest aristocratic family. At the age of 12, when aviation was still very much in its infancy, he visited the nearby Ambérieu-en-Bugey Air Base during the summer and had his first flight - - quite an extraordinary experience for the time. Later on, after twice failing his final exams at a preparatory Naval Academy, Saint-Exupéry entered the École des Beaux-Arts to study architecture for 15 months. In 1921, Saint-Exupéry began his military service at the 2e Régiment de chasseurs à cheval (2nd Regiment of light cavalry) in Alsace. While there he took private flying lessons and the following year was offered a transfer from the French Army to the French Air Force. He received his pilot's wings after being posted to the 37th Fighter Regiment in Casablanca, Morocco.
In the interwar period, he became one of the pioneers of international postal flight, in the days when aircraft had few instruments. He worked for the legendary company Aéropostale between Toulouse and Dakar, managing the Cape Juby airfield post in the Spanish zone of South Morocco. This is when he received the Légion d'honneur for his intervention saving downed pilots captured by Bedouin tribes.
In 1929, Saint-Exupéry was transferred to Argentina as director of the Aeroposta Argentina airline. He surveyed new air routes across South America, negotiated agreements, and even occasionally flew the airmail as well as search missions looking for downed fliers. This period of his life has been depicted in the popular movie Wings of Courage, an IMAX film by French director Jean-Jacques Annaud.
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A RISING STAR IN THE LITERARY WORLD |
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Raising literary Fame:
Saint-Exupéry's first novella, L'Aviateur (The Aviator), was published in 1926 in a short-lived literary magazine Le Navire d'Argent (The Silver Ship).
In 1929, his first book, Courrier Sud (Southern Mail) was published.
The 1931 publication of Vol de nuit (Night Flight) established Saint-Exupéry as a rising star in the literary world. He won the prix Femina. That same year, Saint-Exupéry married Consuelo Suncin (née Suncín Sandoval), a once-divorced, once-widowed Salvadoran writer and artist, with whom he would have a tumultuous relationship until his death.
Night Flight, published in the U.S in 1932, and Southern Mail (1933) were personal meditations on aviation and mankind, exquisite for their honesty, clarity and lyricism. In the first, Saint-Exupery turned flying into poetry:
“Fabien, the pilot bringing the Patagonia air mail from far south to Buenos Aires, could mark night coming on by certain signs that called to mind the waters of a harbor — a calm expanse beneath, faintly rippled by the lazy clouds — and he seemed to be entering a vast anchorage, an immensity of blessedness.”
In Southern Mail, he described the Sahara Desert’s arid hospitability, again from experience:
“Dune by dune the Sahara unfolded itself beneath the moon. Its light, falling on our foreheads with the pallor of a lamp which blends the softened forms, enveloped every object in its velvet sheen. Under our soundless footsteps the sand had the richness of a carpet.”
Saint-Exupéry’s Wind, Sand and Stars, or Terre des hommes:
"So in the heart of the desert, on the naked rind of the planet, in an isolation like that of the beginnings of the world, we built a village of men. […] We told stories, we joked, we sang songs. In the air there was that slight fever that reigns over a gaily prepared feast. And yet we were infinitely poor. Wind, sand, and stars. The austerity of Trappists. But on this badly lighted cloth, a handful of men who possessed nothing in the world but their memories were sharing invisible riches."
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North American exile and The Little Prince
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During the German invasion of France in 1940, Saint-Exupéry flew a Bloch MB.174 with the Groupe de reconnaissance II/33 reconnaissance squadron of the Armée de l'Air.
He accomplished many missions, escaping being shot down several times.
After France's armistice with Germany, Saint-Exupéry went into exile in North America, escaping through Portugal on board the S.S. Siboney and arrived in New York City on the last day of 1940, with the intention of convincing the U.S. to enter the conflict against Nazi Germany quickly. Unfortunately, the Roosevelt administration decided to recognize the Vichy Regime and appointed US Navy Admiral William D. Leahy as ambassador to Marshall Petain’s government.
On 14 January 1941, at a Hotel Astor author luncheon attended by approximately 1,500, he belatedly received his National Book Award sponsored by the National Booksellers Association and the New York Herald Tribune for Wind Sand and Stars (250,000 copies sold).
An interview in the New York Times describes him as a restless man, somewhat lost in the midst of French expats conflicted between the Free French led by General de Gaulle, who was wrongly depicted as an aspiring dictator by the supporters of the established Vichy regime. In the end, Saint Exupéry, who was neither a Gaullist and declined offers from the Vichy regime, was despised and viewed as a traitor by both sides, his literary works and newspapers articles being banned both in occupied France as well as the Free French in London and Algiers. He had a much publicized hour-long confrontation with Charles Lindbergh, who strongly opposed America’s entry in the war, and who had echoed pro-Hitler sentiments - before being sent to fight in the Pacific.
Between January 1941 and April 1943, the Saint-Exupérys lived at 240 Central Park South in twin penthouse apartments, lent by Mr. & Mrs. Reinhard, as well as The Bevin House mansion in Asharoken on Long Island, New York and a townhouse at 35 Beekman Place in Manhattan. He kept writing articles and worked on his novels, spoke at the Lycée Francais and the Institut Francais.
He would take cabs and give directions in French to the drivers, as he had a difficult time learning English, saying that “he had not yet finished learning French”...
In April 1943, with the transfer of the Provisional French Government from London to Algiers, and the formation of the 1st French Army equipped with modern American armament in order to fight along the allied campaign in Italy, he decided to re-enlist in the French Air Force.
As he prepared to leave the city to rejoin the war effort as a reconnaissance pilot, Saint-Exupéry appeared at his friend Silvia Hamilton's door wearing his military uniform. "I'd like to give you something splendid," he said, "but this is all I have." He tossed a rumpled paper bag onto her entryway table. Inside were the manuscript and drawings for The Little Prince, which the Morgan acquired from her in 1968.
The story follows a young prince who visits various planets in space, including Earth, and touches on themes of loneliness, friendship, love, and loss. Despite its style as a children's book, The Little Prince makes observations about life and human nature.
This tale of a space-traveling royal is a New York story:
The Little Prince, this French boy who became an icon, whose adventures in the desert and asteroids have entertained and educated children and adults around the world, actually saw the light of day in New York!
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HIS LAST MISSION AND FINAL DISAPPEARANCE |
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At the age of 43, soon to be promoted to the rank of commandant (major), he was far older than most men in operational units. Although eight years over the age limit for such pilots, he had petitioned endlessly for an exemption which had finally been approved by General Dwight Eisenhower. However, Saint-Exupéry had been suffering pain and immobility due to his many previous crash injuries, to the extent that he could not dress himself in his own flight suit or even turn his head leftwards to check for enemy aircraft.
As he rejoined his former unit, renamed Groupe de reconnaissance 2/33 "Savoie", he underwent seven weeks of training to learn to fly the P-38 Lightnings, After wrecking a P-38 through engine failure on his second mission, he was grounded then reinstated to flight duty after the personal intervention of General Ira Eaker, Deputy Commander of the U.S. Army Air Forces. According to his editor John Phillips of Life Magazine, this was done “not through favoritism, but through exception." The brutalized French, it was noted, would cut a German's throat "probably with more relish than anybody."
Before flying, while the mechanics were preparing his aircraft, and even while flying, Saint Exupéry was known to write notes and draw sketches in his notebook…
At midday on 31 July 1944, he vanished while in his tenth photographic reconnaissance mission to prepare for the allied landing in Provence, a few hours after departing from French air base in Porreta, Corsica.
In 2000, a French scuba diver found the partial remnants of a Lightning spread over several thousand square meters of the Mediterranean seabed off the coast of Marseille. In April 2004, although only a few parts were recovered, their serial numbers and markings indicated proved it was Saint Exupéry’s missing plane. In June 2004, the recovered parts and fragments were given to the Air and Space Museum of France in Le Bourget, Paris, where Saint-Exupéry's life is commemorated in a special exhibit. A silver bracelet was found with his wife Consuelo’s name engraved. An unidentifiable corpse which was found at the time some 80 miles east was buried in Carqueirane, and could be his. Alas, his disappearance will never be solved. Was he shot down by two Luftwaffe pilots, who claimed, many years later, without written combat record to prove it, that they shot a Lighting that day? One will never know for sure.
What is for sure, is that his legacy is firmly in place as one of France’s most influential writer of the 20th Century. His name is inscribed in the Panthéon in Paris, while many places are named after him or adorned with statues in such diverse places as Spain, Israel, Korea, Japan…
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To conclude, we would like to borrow this sentence from Le Petit Prince:
· Quand tu regarderas le ciel, la nuit, puisque j'habiterai dans l'une d'elles, puisque je rirai dans l'une d'elles, alors ce sera pour toi comme si riaient toutes les étoiles. Tu auras, toi, des étoiles qui savent rire !
· “In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night…”
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Bracelet of Saint-Exupéry found by the fisherman Jean-Claude Bianco in 1998.
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THE CASE FOR A STATUE IN NEW YORK CITY |
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- The Little Prince has been written in New York in 1942.
- It is the most translated book in the world (after the Holy Bible). It has been translated into 400 languages and dialects
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The Little Prince is Saint-Exupéry's most successful work, selling an estimated 200 million copies worldwide, which makes it one of the best-selling books ever published after the Holy Bible.
- The universal appeal of The Little Prince,
- Its relevance for generations of children,
- The fact that it was mostly written in Manhattan
- The fact that its author died for France in WWII
All justify that the American Society of Le Souvenir Français, Inc. pay homage to one of literature’s most iconic and beloved work with a bronze sculpture in Manhattan for the enjoyment of generations of young New-Yorkers to come.
On March 13, 2022, our Board of Directors voted to select the French sculptor Jean-Marc de Pas to design the sculpture of "The Little Prince", to be installed in New York.
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MEET SCULPTOR JEAN-MARC DE PAS |
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Jean-Marc de Pas, sculptor, was born in Rouen in 1962. Doctor in art and art sciences, graduated from the Beaux-arts de Paris and the Ecole Boulle, he opened his studio in 1989 in Bois-Guilbert in Normandy.
In his work, he seeks harmony of lines, grace, the expression of an inner state.
For nearly 30 years, he has produced numerous monumental works installed in public space. He experimented with many registers. His favorite material is earth clay, which is malleable; his works are then edited in bronze or in composite materials.
“Intervening on a site is not a neutral action. The creation enters into dialogue with the vocation of the place, with its history and the formal elements, landscape, architectures, which compose it. It is added and in this sense must find its coherence in the eyes of the people who live in this space. The artist integrates specifications to produce a poetic gesture that goes beyond the materiality of the work. A work can bring an extra soul to a space” – J.-M. de Pas.
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Jean-Marc de Pas created a bust of Antoine de Saint Exupéry for the National Museum of Air and Space at Le Bourget near Paris. It was dedicated on July 13, 2021 by General Philippe Lavigne, Chief of Staff of the Air and Space Force (CEMAAE), along with his American counterpart General Charles Q. Brown Jr., in the presence of the artist, the director of the Museum, Anne-Catherine Robert-Hauglustaine, the general secretary of the Fondation Antoine de Saint-Exupéry pour la jeunesse, Olivier d'Agay, nephew and godson of the writer-Aviator, and his general delegate , Nicolas Delsalle-Mun, at the Air and Space Museum.
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EXISTING TRIBUTES IN NEW YORK |
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Plaque affixed in 2000, Antoine de Saint Exupéry
Facade of the Restaurant La Grenouille, 3 E 52nd St, New York, NY 10022
Photo: © The American Society of Le Souvenir Français
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INSCRIPTION:
ANTOINE DE SAINT EXUPÉRY
POET-NOVELIST-AVIATOR
JUNE 29, 1900 JULY 31, 1944
During World War II, in the studio of his artist friend, Bernard Lamotte, France’s legendary author-aviator wrote chapters of his universal beloved tale
“The Little Prince”
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;
what is essential is invisible to the eye”
Durant la seconde guerre mondiale, dans le studio de son ami l’artiste Bernard Lamotte, le légendaire auteur-aviateur écrivit des chapîtres de son roman connu du monde entier
“Le Petit Prince”
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF LE SOUVENIR FRANÇAIS
OCTOBER 2000
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Bevin House - “The Little Prince House”
76 Bevin Road, Asharoken, NY 11768 Northport, Long Island
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• Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and his wife Consuelo moved into this large wooden residence in the early months of 1942. Built in 1862 by a wealthy New York shipowner, the house is Victorian in style and has 22 rooms. Antoine set up his office on the ground floor, in a room with a huge bow window. He left the rest of the house and the roof terrace to Consuelo, who organized parties in which French and foreign artists and men of letters participated.
• Antoine worked on “Citadelle” and on a certain children's story… which he finally decided to illustrate himself, unconvinced by the overly elaborate drawings of his friend Bernard Lamotte.
• Now nicknamed "La Maison du Petit Prince", the manor house has undergone extensions by the new owners.
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North East Northport Public Library, 151 Laurel Ave, Northport, NY 11768
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• In memory of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's presence in Northport, a statue of the Little Prince, the work of Winifred S. de Witt Gantz, was unveiled on September 16, 2006, in the courtyard of the municipal library.
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AT THE PIERPONT-MORGAN LIBRARY, NYC |
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Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944), drawings for The Little Prince, The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, © Estate of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
Photography by Graham S. Haber, 2013.
225 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
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The original manuscript of "The Little Prince" is held at the Pierpont-Morgan Library in New York. It is currently on loan to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.
- A video showing its transfer to France on board an Air France flight is worth viewing:
- as well as the "making of" video of Le Petit Prince:
Other noteworthy current exhibits :
- Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, February 17- June 26 2022
- Also at L'envol des Pionniers, Site de Légende, Toulouse, until November 6, 2022:
Permanent attractions not to be missed by all Petit Prince lovers:
- Parc du Petit Prince, Ungersheim (near Mulhouse) Alsace
- Musée de l’air et de l’espace, Le Bourget:
The Museum established a special exhibit honoring Saint-Exupéry, and which displays many of his literary creations. Among them are various early editions of The Little Prince. Remnants of the Free French Air Force P-38 Lightning in which he disappeared, and which were recovered from the Mediterranean in 2004, are also on view.
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The Little Prince has been adapted to numerous art forms and media, including audio recordings, radio plays, live stage, film, television, ballet, and opera. Listen to Richard Burton narrating "The Little Prince" (Grammy Awards, 1976):
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TRIBUTE AT THE PANTHÉON AND AROUND THE WORLD |
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Other Museums around the world:
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In Hakone, Japan there is the Museum of The Little Prince featuring outdoor squares and sculptures such as the B-612 Asteroid, the Lamplighter Square, and a sculpture of the Little Prince. The museum grounds additionally feature a Little Prince Park along with the Consuelo Rose Garden; however the main portion of the museum are its indoor exhibits.
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In Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, there is an imitation French village, Petite France, which has adapted the story elements of The Little Prince into its architecture and monuments. There are several sculptures of the story's characters, and the village also offers overnight housing in some of the French-style homes. Featured are the history of The Little Prince, an art gallery, and a small amphitheatre situated in the middle of the village for musicians and other performances. The enterprise's director stated that in 2009 the village received a half million visitors.
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Le Petit Prince, 50 francs banknote, front and back
Par Monnaie de Paris (banknote), European Central Bank (photograph) — Banque de France (banknote), Domaine public
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7813000
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Clockwise, L to R: Le Petit Prince on its wall (L'Escala/Province of Gérone/Catalonia/Spain).
By Daniel CULSAN — own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37327123 -
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A SPECIAL APPRECIATION TO HOWARD SCHERRY
Our association wishes to acknowledge the considerable and indefatigable efforts of New-Yorker scholar Howard Scherry, who worked hand-in-hand with our past president the late Colonel Roger Cestac to spearhead the drive to have a statue of Saint Exupéry or "The Little Prince" in New York.
In 1983, Scherry founded “Remembering Saint-Exupéry,” (R S-E) an organization whose mission is “to foster and further the memory and message of the man who saw foremost with his heart and gave forever of his body in every noble cause in his relatively short life of forty-four years.”
You can listen to Howard discuss his passion for Saint Exupéry:
Finally...we cannot also not mention the upcoming Broadway Show
starting March 29, 2022:
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PAST MONTHLY BULLETINS
OUR GOAL: turn the spotlight on a famous, or less famous, episode or historical figure during the long shared history between France and the United States, with illustrations and anecdotes.
You can have access to all our past Monthly Bulletin
since February 2021 by visiting our website:
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Our next Bulletin in March will pay homage to
MAJOR PIERRE L'ENFANT
French engineer and architect who designed the plan for Washington DC
and whose statue was recently installed (February 28, 2022)
inside the United States Capitol.
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THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF
LE SOUVENIR FRANÇAIS
HONOR ROLL
The following distinguished individuals have received the "2021 Médaille Commémorative du Souvenir Français" for the significant help and support to our activities, illustrating the enduring historical bonds of friendship between France and the United States.
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Richard Azzaro, co-founder, National Honor Guard /Tomb of Unknown Soldier
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Johnny Carawan, Trail Administrator, Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route - National Historic Trail (WARO)
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Chuck Schwam, COO, American Friends of Lafayette
We look forward to continuing collaborating on many celebrations and patriotic events in the years to come!
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ANNOUNCEMENTS - SAVE THE DATE |
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SAVE THE DATE
On the occasion of a visit in New York by the President-General of Le Souvenir Français in Paris, the Contrôleur Général des Armées (2S) Serge Barcellini, a wreath-laying ceremony will be held at Notre-Dame Church, 405 West 114th Street in Manhattan on Friday, May 6th, at 11:00AM. All are welcome to join, in order to pay respect to our Fallen soldiers.
We will be honored to welcome as well on that occasion Madame Nathalie de Gouberville, direct descendant of the Comte de Rochambeau, with her husband Philippe de Gouberville, who will be in New York to preside over the kick-off fund raising of the Friends of Odell House - Rochambeau Headquarters the day before.
The Odell House in Hartsdale, about 20 miles north of Manhattan, served as Rochambeau's headquarters during the French Army encampment in Phillipsburg, from July 6 to August 19, 1781. Under the dynamic leadership of Susan and David Seal, it is currently being renovated to become a museum.
Four French soldiers died and are buried on the property. The American Society of Le Souvenir Français pledged to erect a memorial, including a boulder, a bronze plaque and a bench in their memory, in the garden of the future museum.
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SCREENING OF "THE GIRL WHO WORE FREEDOM"
SAVE THE DATE!
Ms. Christian Taylor and Danny Patrix Boucherie are planning to come to New York May 16-18 and we are in the process of finding a suitable auditorium to show the documentary to high school students. We will make announcements in our next bulletin.
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"The French Will Never Forget..."
“The Girl Who Wore Freedom” is a documentary on the reception given to Veterans GIs by the Norman population. In particular, the title refers to a French little girl who wore a dress cut from an American flag and an American parachute of nylon fabric in 1944.
This American flag dress was worn by Daniele “Dany” Patrix Boucherie, of Ste.-Marie-du-Mont. She has kept over the decades her star-spangled dress sewn by her mom, with vivid memories of the days of liberation. She remembers seeing planes with gliders and the parachuted paratroopers landing.
You can watch the trailer on YouTube just by clicking on the photo above or:
Having watched this documentary by pure happenstance on a Delta Airlines flight recently, I purchased a digital copy on AppleTV, however I realized that it was quasi-impossible to purchase a DVD copy anywhere.
I therefore contacted the producer, Christian Taylor, a former US Senate cable TV reporter in Washington, who now lives in Illinois. Her story on how she made the documentary is as moving as the film itself. Unfortunately at the present time, there is no sufficient funding to mass produce DVD's with a fancy packaging. The only way is to have access to the Apple store and AppleTV.
However, a few DVD's ($30 each) are available for sale at:
Password “Dany”
For more information, please contact: Ms. Christian Taylor, Director/Producer, "The Girl Who Wore Freedom" at the Normandy Project LLC.
Tel: (708) 669-4696
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UPCOMING EVENTS ANNOUNCEMENTS |
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Upcoming Marker Dedication - Lafayette Lodge No. 27 (Rahway, NJ) - Fri, Apr 8 | 5:30 pm ET
The Lafayette Trail, Inc. is pleased to announce the upcoming dedication of a new historic marker in Rahway, NJ.
The marker will be installed in front of the Lafayette Lodge No. 27 (1550 Irving St, Rahway, NJ) near the corner of Irving St and Elizabeth Avenue on Friday, April 8th, 2022 at 5:30 pm ET. Limited street parking will be available around the site of the unveiling.
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UPCOMING MARKER DEDICATION CEREMONY
Yorktown Riverwalk | Yorktown, VA | Thu, April 21 at 2 pm ET
The Lafayette Trail, Inc. is pleased to announce the upcoming dedication of a new historic marker in Yorktown, VA. The formal unveiling will take place on Thursday, April 21 at 2 pm ET.
The marker will be installed on the Riverwalk, near the Yorktown Freight Shed located in Historic Yorktown at 331 Water St, Yorktown, VA 23690.
Please, assemble at 2 pm ET to attend the ceremony. The event will consist of introductory remarks followed by the formal unveiling of the historic marker and photo opportunities for attendees.
After the event, attendees will be cordially invited to proceed to the adjacent Yorktown Freight Shed for a reception.
Free parking will be available at the nearby Riverwalk Landing Parking deck located across the street at 330 Water St, Yorktown, VA 23690.
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OUR MISSIONS:
• 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.
We are looking to expand our geographic coverage with Regional Delegates in cities such as Austin, or Houston (SouthWest), New Orleans (Louisiana), Savannah, Jacksonville or Miami (SouthEast), Boston or Newport (New England).
The American Society of Le Souvenir Français, Inc. is an independent American corporation, apolitical, established in 1993 in NY, with 501 (c) 3 non-profit status.
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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
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Help us implement several historic commemorative projects celebrating the 244-year-old Franco-American friendship and alliance! |
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The American Society of Le Souvenir Français, Inc. is a registered NY State non-profit corporation and has full IRS tax exempt 501(c)3 status. All donations are tax deductible.
Contact: Thierry Chaunu, President
697 Third Avenue #341 New York, NY 10017
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