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elleng

(136,100 posts)
Mon Jun 13, 2022, 10:52 AM Jun 2022

On This Day - June 13, 1777, during the American Revolution, a young French aristocrat

Marie-Joseph Paul Roch Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, arrived on American shores with the intention of serving in the Continental army under the
famed George Washington. Lafayette had been ordered by the French King Louis XVI to remain in France and not attempt to join the Americans as this action was sure to inflame the British, but the Marquis slipped out of the country anyways.

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On This Day - June 13, 1777, during the American Revolution, a young French aristocrat (Original Post) elleng Jun 2022 OP
Lafayette grave. Teen boys love his story. Stir up excitement cbabe Jun 2022 #1
WWI tribute: General Pershing cbabe Jun 2022 #2
His involvement saved his neck later.... Karadeniz Jun 2022 #3
Lafayette, we are here Ruby Zee Jun 2022 #4

cbabe

(4,173 posts)
2. WWI tribute: General Pershing
Mon Jun 13, 2022, 11:41 AM
Jun 2022
https://sites.lafayette.edu/lafayettewwi/

The Legacy of Lafayette in World War I

On July 4, 1917, General John J. Pershing, commander of the newly-arrived American Expeditionary Force in Europe, made a special pilgrimage to a small cemetery on the outskirts of Paris. There the General and his staff stopped beside a simple grave. It was Pershing’s aide, Colonel Charles E. Stanton, who spoke: ” It is with loving pride we drape the colors in tribute of respect to this citizen of your great republic. And here and now in the presence of the illustrious dead we pledge our hearts and our honor in carrying this war to a successful issue. Lafayette, we are here!”

Memories of Lafayette’s contributions to the American Revolution resonated with many Americans who sympathized with France and her allies during World War I. Lafayette’s name was invoked for the Lafayette Fund, started by Americans in 1914 to supply comfort kits to French soliders; for the Lafayette Memorial, established by Americans who purchased Lafayette’s birthplace, the Chateau Chavaniac, in 1917; and for the Lafayette Escadrille, the squadron of American pilots who flew for France.
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