Merci Train - Recent Additions
If you have a personal experience with the history of the Merci Train or the artifacts that came from the train and would like to share your experience please let us know. Maybe you have a neighbor or relative who may have served in the wars and actually rode on one of these cars.
Photos and or stories are always welcome. Please contact Earl Bennett at the address on the main page of this site. New articles are added to the top of the page. Please stop back often.
3/2/11
On March 2, 2011, we received the following letter.
Hi,
I am half French (mother) and half Scots (father). My grandfather and great-grandfather both were generals in the French army during WW1 (my grandfather died from mustard gas poisoning). Four of my seven siblings are French nationals; the rest are British, including me. Why make it easy, huh?
Anyway, my (French) sister, Annick, lives in Rambouillet, a bustling little township that lies about 30 miles west of Paris, where I too resided for 3 years in the early 60s. She recently sent me the attached cutting from her local newspaper that relates the visit of a French neighbor couple, Mr. & Mrs. Charlres Henri de Noirmont, to the home of Professor and Mrs Merrick of Cincinnati, OH.
I am attaching a translation.
BTW, my wife (Swiss) and I (British) emigrated from Geneva, Switzerland, to Columbia, South Carolina, in 1998. Needless to say, we love it here, or we would not have made the move.
Sincerely,
Yann Saunders
Here is the translation. MerciTrain.pdf
Here is a screenshot thumbnail of the newspaper article.
Click on image below to view full size
10/14/10
"It was recently reported to me by Deb Arenz, Senior Museum Curator at the Nebraska State Historical Society museum, that the society has a collection of about 250 of the Merci Train gifts that came to Nebraska in their boxcar in 1949.
The society's web site, NebraskaHistory.org, has photos of most (if not all) of the wonderful and beautiful gifts sent by the people of France in that state's Merci Train boxcar. However, the society does not have the items on display at the museum. For a real treat, visit the web site by clicking on the link to their web site".