WWI Centennial Commissioner Monique Seefried highlights the involvement of many young people at a ceremony in Versailles commemorating the historical bonds between France and the US.
A pair of statues – honouring the American First World War commander, General John Pershing, and the Marquis de Lafayette, French hero of the American Revolutionary War – were rededicated on 6 October 2017.
In an interview, Dr Seefried says: “The presence of so many young people, the poems they read, the presentations they made of the life of both Pershing and Lafayette, were a strong symbol of how France wants to involve young generations to perpetuate the French-American legacy and continue to build on the bonds of friendship, learning the lessons of the past, and preparing the future”.
The project has been completed 80 years after its original inauguration as a tribute to the Great War alliance between the two countries. Work was interrupted by the Second World War.
Dr Monique Seefried tells the story on the US World War I Centennial Commission website.
Images courtesy of US WWI Centennial Commission