The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mitscher (DDG 57), right, provides a warm welcome to the French tall ship replica the Hermione in the vicinity of the Battle of Virginia Capes off the East Coast of the United States. The original Hermione brought French General Marquis de Lafayette to America in 1780 to inform Continental Army Gen. George Washington that a French army was headed for the United States to assist in the war effort.
The symbolic return of the Hermione will pay homage to Lafayette and the Franco-American alliance that brought victory at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. The Hermione will visit Yorktown, Va. June 5 and then continue up the East Coast visiting cities of Franco-American historical significance.
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