FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE FRENCH WILL NEVER FORGET PLANS AN EMOTIONAL TRIBUTE IN NEW YORK CITY TO COMMEMORATE THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY
The Ceremony Includes Showering the Statue of Liberty with 1 Million Rose Petals
New York, NY — May 27, 2014 — To commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day, and as an homage to the U.S. soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for the liberation of France, the not-for-profit association The French Will Never Forget (TFWNF), with help from both the French and US governments, has planned a grand and moving tribute on June 6, 2014.
TFWNF will host a series of events to demonstrate the support and gratitude the French people feel for their longtime American allies. The French navy frigate Lafayette will call onto the Port of New York, and a flotilla of sailboats from the Manhattan Yacht Club will surround Liberty Island. A helicopter will fly over the Statue of Liberty, where it will release 1 million red rose petals. A group of 130 French and American children will carry TFWNF’s gigantic U.S. and French flags (30' x 60'), and while the band of the First Company Governor’s Foot Guard (Hartford, Conn.) performs both countries’ national anthems, the children will unfurl the flags at the feet of the worldwide symbol of liberty, a gift from France to the United States in 1886. Afterward, a ceremony on Liberty Island will honor several WWII veterans who were present on D-Day, in front of dignitaries and both an American color guard and a French garde d’honneur.
The four TFWNF co-presidents and co-founders, Paul Bensabat, Patrick du Tertre, Jean-Pierre Heim and Christian Millet, offered their thoughts: “On that day, once more, the French people will show their appreciation to America, their oldest friend and ally, for their regained freedom. We wanted to express it in a way that has never been done before, with World War II veterans present.”
The project, orchestrated by Rod Kukurudz of Citizen Events, is made possible thanks to generous donations from numerous individuals, French associations and corporations. The list of sponsors is growing and includes these companies as main sponsors:
- Platinum sponsor: SNCF
- Gold sponsors: Air France, Crédit Agricole, Natixis
- Silver sponsors: Citizen Events, Dassault Falcon Jet, Havas PR, Jean-Pierre Heim and Associates, Logfret, L’Oréal
- Bronze sponsors: Limoges.com, Messchaert, New York on Air, Statue Cruises
For more information, visit thefrenchwillneverforget.com, The French Will Never Forget—U.S. Page on Facebook and @FrenchNever4Get on Twitter; the official hashtag is #TFWNF.
About The French Will Never Forget The French Will Never Forget (TFWNF) is a grassroots organization created in 2003 by a group of French citizens living in the United States: Paul Bensabat, Patrick du Tertre, Jean-Pierre Heim and Christian Millet. TFWNF strives to strengthen the friendship between the American and French people and the relationship between the two countries, whose ties have a strong and rich history, beginning with France’s support at the budding nation’s inception and being the first country to recognize the U.S. as an independent nation. TFWNF has created major events to celebrate this friendship. Some of the largest include laying a red rose on each of the 60,511 graves of American soldiers fallen in France, creating a human chain of 2,500 French people saying “France Will Never Forget” on the sands of Omaha Beach, and organizing the largest commemoration abroad for the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy by creating a replica of the Twin Towers in Paris at Trocadéro Plaza.