Frank Luke memorial

Stephen--
Did you see the Luke memorial? I have a picture of it which shows that the brass plaque on the front has been removed, probably by some vandal souvenir hunter.
Do you still harbor the plan of a fund to restore the memorial? Give us details, okay?

John

[stephen]

John: Yes, I've seen the memorial and have excellent close up photos, and no, the plaque is still not on it. Here is a CRITICALLY important point for those of you who are interested in the death of Frank Luke: all of our (my) research is based on Luke's proximity to the village when he landed. The stream and the road both run parallel out of Murveaux, and we know that Luke landed in the field between the two... the opposite bank of the stream is tree lined and borders the Cote St. Germain, a large hill and an impossible landing site. The question is, WHERE along the stream did he land... in other words, how far OUTSIDE of the village was he when his SPAD stopped? The only evidence we have is the memorial, which stands alonside the road about 400 yards outside the village. Since the memorial is very old, one is forced to assume that eyewitnesses were available when it was erected, and the approximate location of the landing site (shootout site?) was fairly common knowledge among the citizens of such a small village. Therefore, my estimates of the time it took for German soldiers to run to a certain location, see a certain location, etc., are all based on the supposition that the memorial is indeed in the correct location... again, we know the "latitude", the location of the landing between the stream and the road... but we must rely on the memorial for the "longtitude," the distance Luke was outside the village when his SPAD stopped. Make sense?

I do indeed still entertain thoughts of putting a new plaque on the memorial, though I simply didn't have time to do it on my most recent visit. My next plan is to check with the national war memorials commission and see if this particular memorial falls under their jurisdiction. If that effort fails, then I will quite likely take matters into my own hands and start a private fund for the project which will come to fruition on my next visit, tentatively planned for 2001. I will take great care to contact the village officials first and establish a good relationship with them. Then, up goes the plaque in French and English. After all, if it's been missing for 40 years, who cares? I might as well put up the best one I can, then if the "official" party comes along at a later date and doesn't like it, they can take mine down and put up their own. But in the meantime, it's just being forgotten which is a shame. I'm a big proponent of honoring our military heroes and believe it's a travesty for a Medal of Honor winner's memorial to be poorly maintained and forgotten. Call me sentimental. Or patriotic.

[stephen]

Hey John... I guess we have three years to work with. Are you suggesting that we start the fund now? It will be with the understanding that if the commission, or the "official" party should in the meantime replace the plaque (an unlikely event at this late date), that the fund's monies should be donated to a WWI avaition museum or publication. My details are pretty simple... start a bank account for it, get the word out through every channel I can, and register donations/account balance with an independant party to secure donators against fraud. That's it. Sorry... I'll shut up now.

Stephen--
Sure, why not? I don't think I'll ever get to France to see it, but if you start a fund now, you can have it set by the time 2001 comes along, and I agree with you--this should be the memorial to one of the country's greatest heroes, and it is a shame to have the plaque removed. I bet there are at least three or four of us who'd contribute...
John