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World War 1 – disaster & fraternity
As Franco-Americans, we begin with the United States...
and sites that are near the ridge of Chemin des Dames, where three weeks of useless carnage (April 16 - May 9, 1917) led half the French army to refuse to lead major attacks again – indeed there have been no more. We interpret the American war effort in this wider context.
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Our origins lead us to discover sites that are little-known to Europeans, in an excursion that goes far beyond the interests of a single nationality.
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Americans marched off as gaily as had Europeans in the war through which modern calamities began.
Visiting the cemetery next to the first major U.S. battlefield in Europe evokes these soldiers' tragedy.
By commemorating the humanitarian aid of American volunteers, many of whom were women, a museum reveals a ray of light in the disaster.
- French and American memories
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 - French magazine, June 1917
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 - American chapel window
"Lafayette, we are here", General Pershing, Commander of the American Expeditionary Force, is supposed to have said when he landed with his troops in France. That declaration inspired a stained-glass window.
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 - French magazine, March 1918
American families financed it in memory of their sons killed in the war and to recall their solidarity with France.
The church is closed except for services. We visit it by special permission.
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- A few miles away, a museum and North American flowers have replaced a château's rubble
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 - Reims in 1917
The Museum of Franco-American Cooperation occupies the site of a château that the fighting of Chemin des Dames destroyed. Its works of art illustrate Franco-American ties from the 18th century to the 1930's and records of U.S. volunteers during and after the war.
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 - North-American flowers replace the rubble.
A garden of North American flowers is dedicated to them.
• Nearby: Please see our suggestions on Champagne, particularly Reims.
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- Peaceful help from patricians for whom privilege meant obligation
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 - Anne Morgan during the war
Ann Morgan, handsome daughter of tycoon J.P. Morgan, could have been a central society figure of her time. Instead she organized relief and founded the museum.
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 - Anne Morgan, museum founder
We tell what is known of her and use the museum's and our own records to explain this side of the Franco-American story.
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 - French mother, American nurse, shelter soldiers left
Many American women have come to Europe to bring the Allies their devotion and courage. In ambulances, in garages, wearing masculine dress, they are energetic, alert, and gay."
- Le Miroir,18 April 1915
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 - American volunteers
We evoke their little-known story as well as that of the volunteer American ambulance drivers who tore back from the front with the wounded – and sometimes were destroyed themselves
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- At the end of the afternoon we visit the graves of soldiers who died in the first major
American battle on European soil
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 - Cemetery near battle-site of Belleau Wood, June 6-24, 1918
If we arrive shortly before closing time, we may participate in the ceremony of lowering the flag, a moment of great dignity. |
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Credits: chapel window / Flora Trumelon (assistant to the Director, Belleau Wood Memorial; American troops depart, the welcome to them and the bombardment Reims cathedral / "Le Miroir" (photo magazine of the time) ; young Anne Morgan and help to refugee/ Blerancourt Museum publication; portrait of Anne Morgan (at the Blérancourt Museum) and garden / Claude Abron; cemetery / Frank Atkinson, former Director of the Belleau Wood Memorial
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