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2006 Programs & Events
Embassy First Secretary Attends Inauguration of Plaque Laid in Memory of American Poet and French Legionnaire Alan Seeger
July 5, 2006
On July 5, 2006, the American Embassy in Paris sent a diplomat to the inauguration of the memorial plaque laid in memory of the American poet and French Legionnaire Alan Seeger, who died in the Battle of the Somme on July 4, 1916. Organized by the Chaulnes Committee of French Commemoration, the plaque was laid at the World War I cemetery in Lihons, 45 kilometers southeast of Amiens in northeastern France. In his speech, Embassy First Secretary Matthew Dever identified Alan Seeger's prominent place in the history of World War I poetry, his admiration for French culture, and the ultimate sacrifice he paid for the French and American affinity for human freedom in the struggle against aggression and authoritarianism. He placed Seeger's heritage in the larger setting of shared American French values dating from the American Revolutionary War of 1776-1783. He quoted the most noted passages from Seeger's most noted poem "I Have a Rendezvous With Death":
I have a rendezvous with Death
At some disputed barricade ...
When Spring trips north again this year
And I to my pledged word and true
I shall not fail that rendezvous.
This ceremony enjoyed the attendance of the Sousprefet of Aisne at Peronne; Robert Billoré, Mayor of Lihons; Mr. And Mrs. Marcel Queyrat of the French Commemoration Committee of Chaulnes; Craig Rahanian, Director of the American Battle Monuments Commission for the Somme region, who invited Mr. Dever to participate; a contingent of Legionnaires; three bagpipers; and a large host of ceremonial flagbearers. 75 people attended the ceremony.