Yes, France is our oldest ally, and we Americans share the Paris tragedy, too.
Back in the days of
our Revolution, France came to our aid at a crucial time. Wise old Ben
Franklin, the colonies representative in Paris, had worked years trying
to get France, Britain’s arch enemy, to enter
that war on our side.
The king finally did
so, and as British Gen. Cornwallis faced Washington’s troops at
Yorktown, up sailed the French fleet, cutting off Cornwallis’ retreat or
resupply. He surrendered; the war was effectively
over and America was a new nation.
We have repaid that
debt during WW I & II, as allies should and over the years France and
the US have often stood united..in war but also in times of tragedy and
need.
“I am Charlie!” Remember those signs during another Paris terrorism event earlier this year.
France has been
attacked more than any other nation because it is free and open.
“Liberty, equality, fraternity”—it’s national motto means something, but
it has made France an easy target for the disaffected,
and the barbaric.
Lexington has a direct connection to France. Our Sister Cities program, 2nd
oldest in the US, has been “twinned” to Deauville, for over 50 years.
You can’t have travelled there, as I have a half dozen
times without going thru Paris. And you discover in Deauville, a part
of Normandy, people still remember the Yanks who liberated them.
Deauville students place flowers on GI graves every June 6th, D-Day.
France’s culture and
love of Liberty speaks to many of us. As one guidebook said, on my
first trip there, “France is everyone’s second home.”
Vive La France!
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