The American Society of Le Souvenir Français, Inc., unveiled a pair of interpretive markers at Abingdon Park near Abingdon Elementary School during a ceremony last Wednesday to commemorate the Battle of the Hook.
The group’s mission is to honor the memory of French soldiers, sailors and aviators who are buried in the United States.
The ceremony’s keynote speaker was Head of Military and Defense Mission French Permanent Mission to the United Nations Brigadier General Vincent de Kytspotter, Ph.D., who spoke on the historic significance of the battle and the longstanding alliance between the United States and France. “This Battle of the Hook,” he said, “provides America’s earliest example of a perfect joint Franco-American Operation.”
“In this very place we need to remember that peace has a price,” said Kytspotter, “this price is the life of hundreds, thousands of young fighting together and dying for a noble cause.”
A dramatic retelling of the events of the Battle of the Hook was given b...