CORRECTION 10:08 a.m. Monday, July 17: Gov. Laura Kelly will not be attending this event.
By TONY GUERRERO
Hays Post
This weekend, the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Kansas Merci Boxcar, a gift from France in appreciation of American support, will be celebrated.
The ceremony, which will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday at Veteran's Park, 1305 Canterbury, will feature Hays Mayor Shaun Musil and a guest speaker who will discuss the unique history of the boxcars.
Director of the Kansas Merci Boxcar, Vance Chartier, said the ceremony is dedicated to honoring veterans from the First Infantry Division to those currently serving.
"We are honoring the tie of that boxcar to the veterans by honoring our living veterans as well as those who have passed," he said.
The ceremony will feature the reading of proclamations from both Musil and Kelly.
The celebration will also include a rendition of The Armed Forces Medley to honor veterans, followed by a reading of the poem "In Flander's Field."
Executive Director of the Kansas Historical Society, Patrick Zollner, will speak at the ceremony about its preservation and support from Kansas.
"Part of his talk is going to cover the giving nature of the people of Kansas and how we like to give to those that need help," he said.
During World War I, American "Doughboys" were transported in small boxcars known as "Forty & Eights," which would carry either 40 men or eight horses.
After World War II, the French government prioritized rebuilding infrastructure with the Marshall Plan but provided minimal assistance in feeding its citizens.
Radio commentator and news announcer Drew Pearson challenged the American people to send food and grain, resulting in 700 boxcars of goods being sent.
Chartier said the idea also stemmed from an effort to surpass the Soviet Union, which was sending minimal goods to the country.
"This idea got started to show the French people we're better than the Russians," he said.
On June 14, 1949, the Merci Boxcar arrived in Kansas. It toured 120 cities before arriving in Hays and serving as the main attraction of the Armistice Day Parade that November.
After the parade, it was transported to the Forsythe Library at Fort Hays Teacher's College and later relocated to the American Legion Post 173.
In 2017, it was relocated to Veterans Park. Since its arrival in the United States, The Society of Forty Men and Eight Horses has served as the caretakers of the Kansas Merci Boxcar.
Chartier said having the Kansas Merci Boxcar in Hays is an honor as nearly half of them are gone, and few remain in good condition.
"We have one of the top five boxcars. We're the first one to have a museum inside," he said.
The boxcar was refurbished and rebuilt but retained its original frame and roof. The boxcar museum houses uniforms from various wars and equipment, such as gas masks and telephones.
In 1949, thousands of World War I veterans and millions of World War II veterans vividly remembered spending up to a week being transported to or from the battlefronts in the same type of boxcar.
There were no seats, windows, toilets, or sleeping and dining accommodations. Surviving veterans chose to make the gift boxcars memorials to those lost and the sacrifices they made.
You can schedule a free tour by calling Chartier at 785-623-6747.
Other local veteran groups, including the American Legion, the VFW, the Marine Corps League and the Vietnam Veterans Association, are helping organize the anniversary celebration.
You can follow the Kansas Merci Boxcar on Facebook and visit its website for more information.