This melancholy spot with its tangle of wildwood, its giant boulders, its mangled trees, with here and there the wreckage of war, a helmet, a rusty canteen or, perhaps in some lonely forest aisle the still tangible evidence of deadly hand-to-hand struggle, will for all time be a Mecca for pilgrims from beyond the western ocean. Mothers will consecrate this ground with their tears; fathers with grief tempered with pride will tell its story to their younger generation. Now and then, a veteran for the brief span in which we shall still survive, will come here to live again the brave days of that distant June. Here will be raised the altars of patriotism; here will be renewed the vows of sacrifice and consecration to country. Hither will come our countrymen in hours of depression, and even of failure, and take new courage from this shrine of great deed. ~US Army General James G. Harbord, 1923

Belleau, France and Post-World War I Pilgrimages

During 2022-2023, I was a Fulbright Research Scholar at the Université de Lille and my project focused on post-WWI (historical and contemporary) pilgrimages to Belleau. This small commune has been a center of American memory of WWI for over 100 years. This page documents my time in Belleau as a researcher and a pilgrim. All photos mine.