Sunday, December 3, 2023

The mysterious American Soldier

In 1918, all the soldiers who had not perished in the horror of the Great War were returning home. The French government asked French families to accommodate American soldiers while organizing their repatriation. Régis, my great grandfather, offered to host one. The soldier is the photo below wearing a hat. The rest of the young people are my grandfather, Marcel, his siblings and three girl cousins.


The story goes that there was a flirtation with Germaine (my grandfather's sister) to the extent that they even considered getting married. Germaine said it was love at first site but her father Régis did not accept the idea of his daughter moving to the other side of the Atlantic. In the end, the soldier left for home.

Later Germaine married Jean Saïn, a jeweler in Avignon.



Top Row from left to right: Roger (who died of TB at the age of 19), Régis Jr. , Marcel, The American Soldier, Pierre, and Jean
Bottom Row from left to right: Germaine and 3 cousins 



No comments:

Post a Comment

Love all comments.