{"id":24331,"date":"2024-02-06T20:33:55","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T20:33:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.francaisdeletranger.org\/en\/?p=24331"},"modified":"2024-03-13T18:44:27","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T18:44:27","slug":"mdfde-france-usa-75th-anniversary-of-the-merci-train-the-french-response-to-drew-pearsons-friendship-train-mdfdefriendshipmercitrain75","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.francaisdeletranger.org\/en\/2024\/02\/06\/mdfde-france-usa-75th-anniversary-of-the-merci-train-the-french-response-to-drew-pearsons-friendship-train-mdfdefriendshipmercitrain75\/","title":{"rendered":"MDFDE\/FRANCE-USA: 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE “MERCI TRAIN:” THE FRENCH RESPONSE TO DREW PEARSON’S FRIENDSHIP TRAIN #MDFDEFriendshipMerciTrain75 #MDFDEFriendsOfTheMerciTrainFranceUSA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington D. C., February 6, 1949:<\/strong>\u00a0With Drew PEARSON, master of ceremonies of the Official “Merci Train” Welcoming Committe in D.C., his hometown, standing on his right, Vice-president Alben W. BARKLEY (left hand on podium), a Democrat from Kentucky, speaks to a huge crowd including the French delegation led by M. Henri BONNET, the French Ambassador to the United States, U.S. veterans, Army and Navy high officials, bands, Boy and Girl Scout troops respectfully\u00a0<\/span>gathered around the then D.C. “Merci Train” boxcar. B<\/span>ehind (to the left) V.P. BARKLEY is M. Salvind OLSON in light colored jacket (the D.C. chairman of the Merci Train Distributing Committee). The gentleman with a hat standing in front (next to the loudspeakers) is M. Tom C. CLARK, a Democrat from Dallas, Texas, U.S. Attorney General (1945-1949), U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1949-1967). Credit: Rowe, Abbie National Park Service, Harry S. Truman Library & Museum.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The \u00ab Train de la Reconnaissance Fran\u00e7aise \u00bb aka \u00ab Merci Train \u00bb (1949).<\/p>\n

#GRATI<\/span>TUDE<\/span><\/h1>\n

#RESIS<\/span>TANCE<\/span><\/h1>\n

#FREEDOM<\/span>OF<\/span>THE<\/span>PRESS<\/span><\/h1>\n

#MDFDE<\/span>Friendship<\/span>MerciTrain<\/span>75<\/span><\/h1>\n

\u00a9 The Official French-American Project entirely conceived by Ms. Elisabeth JENSSEN to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the “Merci Train” (1949-2024\/2025). All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

Chair,<\/strong>\u00a0Elisabeth Jenssen<\/p>\n

Honorary President:<\/strong>\u00a0The Comte Gilbert de Pusy La Fayette<\/p>\n

Contact:<\/strong>\u00a0elisabeth.jenssen@francaisdeletranger.org<\/a><\/p>\n

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OTD: February 6, 1949 \u2013 February 6, 2024<\/strong><\/h1>\n

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Dear MDFDE Friends of the “Merci Train,”<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO TODAY,\u00a0ON\u00a0FEBRUARY 6, 1949, WASHINGTON D.C., the Federal District of the United States,<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>hosted a spectacular event now mostly forgotten except for us all, the devoted Friends of the “Merci Train:” Today was<\/strong> THE Official Day the SNCF<\/strong> “Train de la Reconnaissance Fran\u00e7aise au Peuple <\/span>Am\u00e9ricain<\/span>,” “the “French Gratitude Train,” better known nowdays in the United States and abroad as the “Merci Train,” made it from Paris, France, to our Capital City. Today was <\/strong><\/span><\/span>THE DAY <\/span>the “Merci<\/span> Train” went to Washington!<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

And so, before I tell you more about the <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>DC\/Hawaii Merci Train boxcar: The “Untold Story,”<\/span><\/span><\/strong> which is the subject I chose to discuss today for some very specific reasons, and give you a short introduction on how the \u201cMerci Train\u201d campaign came all about, please let me start by telling you that, <\/span>as a French-American citizen and leading Friendship Train and “Merci Train” researcher, whose maternal grandfather was himself a “<\/span>cheminot<\/span>” (a French <\/span>railwayman<\/span>), a veteran of WWI, who lost his wedding ring at the legendary Chemin des Dames (the\u00a0Second Battle of the Aisne\u00a016 April \u2013 mid-May 1917), and member of the\u00a0Federation of French Railroad War Veterans,\u00a0<\/span>I’m<\/span> sure you will understand how telling the <\/span><\/span>REAL STORY<\/strong> <\/span><\/span>of the Friendship Train and “the Merci Train,” committing to its preservation for future generations, personally matters to me.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The amount of work involved in conducting <\/span>such an<\/span> extensive bilingual research on the Friendship Train and the “Merci Train,” <\/span>as it<\/span> has never been done before, collecting nothing but the facts, all duly documented, is simply colossal. Eight long years in and while still at it on a few more things I’m looking for, I must say how thrilled I am today with the results as I already discovered, uncovered so many new, surprising things, stories, data, archives, gifts, pictures, thousands of documents never seen by the public, let alone published before, from which I can connect the dots and draw from to better honor the memories of all the American and the French people responsible for the unmatched success of the Friendship Train and the “Merci Train.”<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As some of you might already know, the MDFDE has been actively involved since October 2016 and since 2017 in cooperation with the SNCF,\u00a0France’s national state-owned railway company founded two years before the beginning of WWII, in 1938, which gave the United States the 49 “Merci Train” boxcars 75 years ago, in promoting the story of the Friendship Train and the “Merci Train” via our on-going educational and cultural French-American project #MDFDEFriendshipMerciTrain75. <\/strong>And our\u00a0#MDFDEFriendshipMerciTrain70<\/strong>, which\u00a0celebrated in 2019 the then 70th Anniversary of the “Merci Train” via “49 Days of Gratitude,”<\/strong> a wonderful event held by the people of North Carolina with the participation of our very own Brigitte HELZER, who 75 years ago + 3 days, on February 3, 1949, wearing a French costume from her native Alsace, proudly marched on Broadway with other French and Italian children dressed in French and Italian costumes, in an “all out” reception complete with banquets and a Ticker Tape Parade New York City gave so generously to welcome the”Merci Train” and its official French Delegation.<\/p>\n

MDFDE\/France-USA: 49 Days of Gratitude: ‘MERCI’ NORTH CAROLINA! #MDFDEFriendshipMerciTrain70<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n