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3 On May 26, 2021, the Chairwoman of the DNC’s Veterans and Military Families Council, Jan Donatelli, informed the resolution author of her full support for Democrats Abroad including veterans and military families within its next and all future DSPs. Evidence of this communication is available upon request from any member of the Democratic Party.
Resolution to Keep the Pershing Hall Collection and the Time Capsule in France as part of its Cultural Patrimony and as a Memorial to American Veterans of World Wars I and II; and that its Oversight be transferred from the DVA to the ABMC
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In 1928 the American Legion Building at 49 rue Pierre Charron, Paris 75008 France – since known as Pershing Hall – was purchased by the Legionnaires of Paris Post 1, acting as The American Legion Building Corporation, Inc., to serve as a monument and memorial to the World War I American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) commanded by General John J. Pershing.
When the project experienced financial difficulties in 1936, the U.S. Government took over the property as a permanent U.S. Memorial – under the trusteeship of the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) -- and, as stipulated in the property deed, assumed responsibility for management and maintenance.
The building was the headquarters of the American Legion inaugural unit Paris Post 1; Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 605; and various French-American associations until all were evicted in 1993 and management was turned over to a realtor. Historic artwork, furnishings, and documents were inventoried by the U.S. government, removed from the building, and sent to various locations for storage. After being abandoned at French national museums for almost three decades, a small portion of this rich heritage has recently been found.
Due to lack of oversight by the DVA, memorials and plaques required to stay in Pershing Hall per the 99-year property lease have not been there for years. In addition, during renovations in 2019, the historic Château Thierry stone and a time-capsule containing other historic documents and artifacts commemorating the inauguration of the building were extracted by the American Battlefield Monuments Commission (ABMC) and are now in its custody.
Currently DVA proposes to reduce the memorial requirements in the lease and the entire collection of Pershing Hall artifacts now risks being taken out of the country, raising concern that veterans in France will lose valuable parts of their history and culture.
Resolution to Catalogue Our “Standing Resolutions”
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