“THE FRENCH WILL NEVER FORGET” SENDS A MESSAGE OF FRIENDSHIP AND SYMPATHY TO AMERICAN ALLIES FOR...
>>>“THE FRENCH WILL NEVER FORGET” SENDS A MESSAGE OF FRIENDSHIP AND SYMPATHY TO AMERICAN ALLIES FOR
THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11
The Grassroots Organization for Strengthening U.S.-France Relations and Friendship Dreams Big—and Plans a Monumental Tribute
To Those Whose Lives Were Lost
PARIS—July 26, 2011—The French Will Never Forget (TFWNF), a grassroots organization founded in 2003 to demonstrate the support and gratitude the French people feel for their longtime allies the Americans, will bring to life its most ambitious tribute yet: a scaled reproduction of the World Trade Center towers, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the tragic circumstances of Sept. 11, 2001.
The group envisions that each tower will be approximately nine stories high, to be erected in front of the Palais de Chaillot esplanade, Place du Trocadéro, in Paris. They will be created by scaffolding that will be covered by white tarpaulin. The scaffolding cover of the first tower will list the names of each of the 3,000 victims of the attacks on 9/11. The second tower’s tarpaulin will be filled with the signatures and messages of thousands of New Yorkers and others who will be given the opportunity to associate their names with the TFWNF event in the weeks preceding the unveiling.
“As the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaches, we who are actively involved in The French Will Never Forget wanted to bring to life a massive and newsworthy homage to our friends and allies in America,” said Paul Bensabat, co-president and co-founder of TFWNF.
Added Patrick du Tertre, another co-president and co-founder of the nonprofit association: “We thought of these reproductions of the World Trade Center towers as a tangible way to send our message of sympathy and respect for all those who lost their lives on that terrible day.”
The project is made possible thanks to the generous donations of numerous individuals and corporations large and small, among them: Altour, Amber Capital, Arts for a Better World, Bolloré/SDV, Cartier, Clarins, Crédit Agricole, Dassault Systèmes, Groupe Frères Blanc, Havas-Euro RSCG, Jean-Pierre Heim Architect DPLG, Limoges.com, Logfret International Logistics, the Manischewitz Company, Newmat, Oger International, SNCF and Société Générale.
The World Trade Center reproduction will be the grandest of the organization’s many tributes in its efforts to continually strengthen the sentiments between the United States and France. Its July 4, 2007, initiative, in which 2,500 French volunteers spelled out “France Will Never Forget” on Omaha Beach, was a social media sensation, with a YouTube video of the crowdsourced event going viral and eliciting tens of thousands of positive messages on the Web.
“We have tried, each year, to prepare a tribute that fully expresses our feelings of amity and fellowship with the American people,” said Christian Millet, also co-president and co-founder.
“Our latest initiative, we feel, succeeds very well. The Eiffel Tower framed in perspective between the two model towers will link France in a very strong visual way to the American sorrow,” added Jean-Pierre Heim, a French architect who designed the concept and is also a co-president and co-founder of TFWNF.
Since the creation of TFWNF, the organization has paid tribute to the United States in annual displays of fellowship. Its first initiative, on July 4, 2003, was a wonderfully moving and symbolic gesture—a campaign to lay a red rose on each of the 60,511 graves, spread out over 11 cemeteries, of U.S. soldiers who died in France during the two world wars. In 2004, the group served as a primary sponsor for 100 U.S. WWII veterans to travel to Normandy, France, where they were awarded the prestigious Légion d’honneur by the president of the French Republic. In 2005, TFWNF was sole sponsor for a group of U.S. WWII veterans involved in liberating the Eiffel Tower to travel to France. In 2006, the group participated in a ceremony in the U.S. to honor WWII veterans, and it has continued to be involved with the Légion d’honneur award ceremonies in the U.S.
The group’s 2009 project was also noteworthy: a special gift, presented with the Normandie Mémoire Association, of a functional and exact reproduction (except for the crack) of America’s Liberty Bell to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. And in 2010, TFWNF funded a documentary called French Fries & Freedom Toast.
Find the group online at thefrenchwillneverforget.com and thefrenchwillneverforget911.com, on Facebook at “The French Will Never Forget” (http://on.fb.me/oBDlJT) and on Twitter at @FrenchNever4Get; the official Twitter 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. The aim of the group since its inception has been to counter anti
http://www.thefrenchwillneverforget911.com/
http://www.malaurie.com/frenchamericanfriendship/index1.php?id=60
