VA Secretary to Keynote France World War I Observance

Washington, D.C. -- Secretary of Veterans Affairs Togo D. West, Jr., will represent President Clinton in France and join French officials at a Sept. 26 ceremony marking the Franco-American alliance in World War I.

Secretary West will deliver the keynote address at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, France, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the World War I battle at Meuse-Argonne.

"The United States has never forgotten the brave French soldiers who helped our country obtain its independence, and France has always been generous in its remembrance of Americans who served and sacrificed in defense of liberty," said West.

It was at the battle of Meuse-Argonne, which took place on September 26, 1918, that the United States First Army, under the command of General John J. Pershing, attacked German military forces along the Meuse River and in the Argonne forest.

An estimated 116,000 Americans died in France during World War I, and more than 14,000 of them are buried at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery.

Following World War I, the U.S. asked its allies for land to honor and bury its dead, and the French government donated land for the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery.

French President Jacques Chirac has instituted a campaign to honor survivors of the allied forces who served in France in conjunction with the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the World War I armistice on November 11, 1998. VA is assisting France in its effort to bestow the National Order of the Legion of Honor -- that country's highest honor -- to surviving members of the U.S. armed forces who fought on French soil during World War I.