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Details:

In the park, west of the pond. Monument


The monument is composed of a central Arch of Triumph, one-half size of the Arch of Thiumph in Paris. Upon the stone are inscribed the names of the dead American pilots of the Escadrille La Fayette and the Lafayette Flying Corps during the first World War 1914 / 1918. Are also inscribed the names of the French towns and provinces where these pilots were involved for fighting Germans. All the other inscriptions are in French on one side and in English on the other side of the monument. Under the monument, a sanctuary crypt including 68 sarcophagi. Some are empty because of the impossibility in locating or removing the pilots' remains. Thirteen stained-glass windows, signed Mauméjean, depicting various battles, give light to the Crypt.

The site is now managed by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).  From the ABMC Website:

The Lafayette Escadrille Memorial Cemetery commemorates the birthplace of American combat aviation, and serves as a symbol of the Franco-American comradeship during World War I. This site honors the American volunteer pilots who flew with French squadrons during the Great War, and is the final resting place for some of America’s first combat aviators and their French Officers.

After the outbreak of World War I, Americans sympathetic to the Allied cause offered their service to France as ambulance drivers and soldiers in the French Foreign Legion. By 1915, many of these volunteers began to lobby the French government to create a squadron composed of American pilots. After careful deliberation the French agreed, and on April 20, 1916 the first unit constituting American flyers was placed on front-line duty. These aviators fought  in the Battle of Verdun and the Somme Offensive, establishing a reputation for daring maneuvers and highly effective skills during these epic conflicts.

More than 200 Americans flew with French squadrons during the course of the war. Men who were considered part of this elite flying group came from diverse backgrounds, including authors of fiction, a professional polo player, All-American football players, an FBI special agent, and a U.S. ambassador, to name a few. Of this number, only 38 were assigned to the Lafayette Escadrille. (The term escadrille means squadron in French.) The rest served in other French flying units. Collectively, all Americans in the French Air Service, known as the Service Aéronautique, were considered to be part of the Lafayette Flying Corps, an unofficial designation. Many of these aviators transferred to American squadrons once the U.S entered the war in April 1917.

After  the Armistice, Lafayette Flying Corps veterans worked with American and French leaders to build a memorial dedicated to those who flew with the Service Aéronautique. The memorial would also serve as a final resting place for many of those who lost their lives during the war.   

Dedicated in 1928, the memorial cemetery consists of an ornate central arch, half the size of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, with a French inscription on the façade, and an English translation on the rear. The central arch is flanked by wings on either side that include open hallways  terminating in end pavilions. A reflecting pool runs the length of the structure. Behind the memorial is a semi-circular terrace that forms the roof of the crypt below. Stained-glass windows in the crypt depict the major battles of the Western Front.

In the memorial crypt are 68 sarcophagi, one for each of the aviators of the Lafayette Flying Corps who lost their lives during World War I. Forty-nine of these aviators are entombed in the crypt along with two of their French commanding officers. The remainder rest in other locations, or their remains were never recovered

The monument above the sarcophagus honors the 200-plus American volunteer pilots, including the first African American combat ace, Eugene Bullard, who flew 20 missions with French squadrons and brought down two enemy aircraft, for their contributions during the early days of combat aviation.

By the early 21st century, decades of delayed maintenance to the memorial had led to structural damage, water intrusion and corrosion that required large-scale repair. Understanding its significance in the history of American military aviation, ABMC, through an agreement with the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial Foundation and the French government that included financial support, led restoration efforts in 2015 and 2016, in time for the 100th anniversary of the formation of the squadron. In January 2017 ABMC officially assumed ownership and responsibility for the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial Cemetery, making it the 9th commemorative World War I cemetery administered by the agency.

Listing of those honored at the

Lafayette Escadrille Memorial Cemetery, Marnes-la-Coquette, France

Members of the Lafayette Flying Corps Entombed in the Cemetery:

1. Leif Norman Barclay

2. James Henry Baugham

3. Frank Leaman Baylies

4. James Alexander Bayne

5. Philip Phillips Benny

6. Vernon Booth, Jr.

7. Felix Brocard (French Officer)

8. Andrew Courtney Campbell, Jr.

 9. Oliver Moulton Chadwick

10. Cyrus Foss Chamberlain

11. Charles Wesley Chapman, Jr.

12. Roger Harvey Clapp

13. Phelps Collins

14. Philip Washburn Davis

15. James Ralph Doolittle

16. Meredith Loveland Dowd

17. Sidney Rankin Drew, Jr.

18. Stuart Emmet Edgar

19. Dinsmore Ely

20. Eric Anderson Fowler

21. Edmond Charles Clinton Genet

 22. Norman Grieb

23. Andre Gundelach

24. Robert Marshall Hanford

25. Warren Tucker Hobbs

26. Ronald Wood Hoskier

27. Harry Firmstone Whelan Johnson 

28. Theodore de Kruijff

29. Edward J. Loughran

30. Gervais Raoul Lufbery

31. Douglas MacMonagle

32. James Rogers McConnell

33. William Henry Meeker

34. Walter Bernard Miller

35. Alan Hammond Nichols

36. Henry Brewster Palmer

37. Paul Pavelka, Jr.

38. Alfred Digby Pelton

39. David Endicott Putnam

40. Samuel Wiggins Skinner, Jr. 

41. Dumareso Spencer

42. Frank Elmer Starrett 

43. William Hallett Tailer 

44. Elmer Bowden Taylor 

45. Hugh Terres

46. George Thénault (French Officer) 

47. Charles L. Trinkard

48. Dudley Gilman Tucker

49. Stephen Mitchell Tyson

50. Benjamin Stuart Walcott 

51. Wallace Charles Winter

Members of the Lafayette Flying Corps Whose Names are Inscribed on the Wall of the Missing at the Memorial Cemetery:

1. Alan Newton Ash

2. Schuyler Lee

3. Manderson Lehr

4. Carter Landram Ovington

5. Donald Edward Stone

Members of the Lafayette Flying Corps Who are Commemorated at the Memorial Cemetery but Buried Elsewhere:

1. Julian Cornell Biddle 

2. Arthur Bluethenthal 

3. Victor Chapman

4. Linn Palmer Cookson 

5. Dennis Dowd

6. William John McKerness 

7. David McKelvy Peterson 

8. Norman Prince

9. Walter Davis Rheno

10. Kiffin Yates Rockwell 

11. Lawrence Scanlan

12. Joseph Volney Wilson 

13. Houston Woodward 

14. Walter Raymond York

Monument Text:

A la Memoire
des Heros
de l'Escadrille Lafayette
Morts pour la defense
du Droit et de la Liberte

English Translation:
In Memory
of the Heros
of the Lafayette Escadrille
Died for the defense
of law and liberty

May this memorial quicken in mankind
the spirit that animated the volunteers of the Escadrille Lafayette
Sons of the United States of America
Pioneers of her entry into the World War
An Avaition Corps
Received into the Army of France
20 April 1916

Hommage a leurs Officiers Francais
Commandant Phiippe Fequant
Commandant Antonin Brocard
Capitaine Georges Thenault
Lieut Alfred de Laage de Meux
Lieut Arnoux de Maison-Rouge
Lieut Louis Verdier-Fauvety


The Dead of the Escadrille Lafayette and of the Lafayette Flying Corps in the order of their Enlistment in the French Army
Name Date of Enlistment Date of Death Decorations
 1914
Dowd, Dennis August 21 August 11, 1916 
Rockwell, Kiffin Yates August 21 September 23, 1916 ***
Trinkard, Charles August 21 November 29, 1917 *
Lufbery, Gervais Raoul Victor August 21 May 19, 1918 ***++
Chapman, Victor September 19 June, 23, 1916 **
Scanlan, Lawrence November 28 November 25, 1921 *
Pavelka, Paul Jr. November 28 November 11, 1917 *
 1915
Genet, Edmond Charles Clinton  February 3  April 16, 1917 **
Prince, Norman March 4 October 15, 1916 ***
McConnell, James Rogers  October 1 March 19, 1917 **
 1916
Hoskier, Ronald Wood April 5 April 23, 1917 **
Barclay, Lief Norman May 22 June 1, 1917 *
Campbell, Andrew Courtney Jr. July 20 October 1, 1917 **
MacMonagle, Douglas October 3 September 24, 1917 **
Peterson, David McKelvy October 9 March 16, 1919 *+
Doolittle, James Ralph October 16 July 28, 1918 *
Rheno, Walter Davis December 24 October 10, 1918 *
 1917
Chadwick, Oliver Moulton January 17 August 14, 1917 **
Pelton, Alfred Digby February 19 May 31, 1918 **
Gundelach, Andre March 20 September 12, 1918 *+
De Kruijff, Theodore March 20 November 6, 1918 
Loughran, Edward J. March 20 February 18, 1918 **
Stone, Donald Edward April 8 April 21, 1918 **
Ovington, Carter Landram April 20 May 29, 1918 **
Edgar, Stuart Emmet May 9 August 17, 1918 
Tucker, Dudley Gilman May 9 July 8, 1918 **
Dowd, Meridith Loveland May 14 October 26, 1918 +
Terres, Hugh May 15 August 17, 1918 
Collins, Phelps May 17 March 12, 1918 *
Baylies, Frank Leaman May 21 June 17, 1918 **
Hanford, Robert Marshall May 24 October 15, 1917
Biddle, Julian Cornell May 25 August 18, 1917
Palmer Henry Brewster May 25 November 12, 1917  *
Tyson, Stephen Mitchell May 25 July 19, 1918 **
Benney, Philip Phillips May 31 January 26, 1918 **
Putnam, David Endicott May 31 September 12, 1918 ***+
Bluethenthal, Arthur June 1 June 5, 1918 **
Lee, Schuyler June 1 April 12, 1918 **
Booth, Vernon Jr. June 3 July 10, 1918  **
Skinner, Samuel Wiggins May 31 October 16, 1917 
Chamberlain, Cyrus Foss June 3 June 13, 1918 **
Clapp, Roger Harvey June 3 July 6, 1918 
Lehr, Manderson June 3 July 15, 1918 *
Meeker, William Henry June 3 September 11, 1917
Walcott, Benjamin Stuart  June 3 December 12, 1917 **
Davis, Philip Washburn June 9 June 2, 1918
Drew, Sidney Rankin Jr. June 9 June 2, 1918 **
Fowler, Eric Anderson June 9 November 27, 1917
Chapman, Charles Wesley Jr.  June 10 May 3, 1918 *+
Hobbs, Warren Tucker June 10 June 25, 1918
Miller, Walter Bernard June 10  August 3, 1918 
Grieb, Norman June 13 August 28, 1917
McKerness, William John June 13 August 15, 1918 **
Ash, Alan Newton June 15 May 31, 1918 **
Cookson, Linn Palmer June 19 September 17, 1918 
Johnson, Harry Firmstone Whelan June 25 May 21, 1918 **
Winter, Wallace Charles  June 25 March 8, 1918 **
York, Walter Raymond June 25 January 6, 1921 *
Nichols, Alan Hammond July 1 June 2, 1918 **
Baugham, James Henry July 10 July 2, 1918 **
Bayne, James Alexander July 10 May 8, 1918
Spencer, Dumaresq July 10 January 22, 1918 *
Ely, Dinsmore July 13 April 21, 1918 
Woodward, Houston July 14 April 1, 1918 **
Starrett, Frank Elmer July 19 January 3, 1918
Tailer, William Hallett July 21 February 5, 1918
Taylor, Elmer Bowden July 21 October 27, 1918 
Wilson, Joseph Volney July 21 October 23, 1918

Commemorates:

People:

1  2  Next

Alan Newton  Ash

Lief Norman Barclay

James Henry Baugham

Frank Leaman 'Jules' Baylies

James Alexander Bayne

Phillip Phillips 'Phil' Benney

Julian Cornell Biddle

Arthur "Bluey" Bluethenthal

Vernon (William) Jr. Booth

Eugene Jacques Bullard

Andrew Courtney, Jr. Campbell

Olivier Moulton Chadwick

Cyrus Foss Chamberlain

Charles Wesley Jr. "Carl" Chapman

Victor Emmanuel Chapman

Roger Harvey Clapp

Phelps Collins

Linn Palmer "Doc" Cookson

Philip Washburn Davis

Theodore Adrian De Kruijff

James Ralph Doolittle

Dennis Dowd

Meredith Loveland Dowd

Sidney Rankin, Jr. Drew

Stuart Emmet Edgar

Dinsmore Ely

Eric Anderson Fowler

Edmond Charles Clinton Genet

Norman (Henry) Grieb

Andre August Hendrick Gundelach

Robert Marshall Hanford

Thomas 'Tommy' III Hitchcock

Warren Tucker Hobbs

Ronald Wood Hoskier

Harry Firmstone Whelan Johnson

Schuyler Lee

Manderson "Bud" Lehr

Edward J. Loughran

Raoul Gervais Lufbery

Douglas MacMonagle

James Rogers McConnell

William John McKerness

William Henry Meeker

Walter Bernard Miller

Alan Hammond Nicols

Carter Landrum Ovington

Henry Brewster Palmer

Paul Jr. Pavelka

Alfred Digby Pelton

David McKelvey Peterson

Units:

103rd Aero Squadron

139th Aero Squadron

163rd Aero Squardron

94th Aero Squadron 1st Pursuit Group

96th Aero Squadron

American Expeditionary Forces (AEF)

American Field Service

Attached French Air Service

French Air Service

French Foreign Legion

Lafayette Escadrille

Naval Aviation

U.S. Navy Air Service

United States Air Force

US Army Air Corps

US Army Air Service

US Army Aviation Signal Corps

Wars:

WWI

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