Item found inside Merci Collection Book
Tucked away inside the pages of “Eglises Parisiennes: Actuelles et Disparues” was found a small French flag. The flag seems to be sewn out of strips of ribbon. It is a bit frayed and has some staining, but it is over sixty years old and made it all the way from France to Sarasota, FL. Inside the book there is an inscription from a Miss Gerard from Bois-Colombes, an area just outside of Paris. She writes in English, “If this book enables you to love our old country more than you did before I should be very satisfied and grateful to you.” It isn’t clear if Miss Gerard placed the flag in the book or if the flag made its way inside the Merci Train boxcar by some other means. Either way, it is a reminder of the friendship between France and the United States.
French flag found inside “Eglises Parisiennes: Actuelles et Disparues.”
