SARATOGA SPRINGS — The New York State Military Museum in Saratoga Springs will mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, and the U.S. relationship with France, during a special two-hour program on Thursday. May 8.
The program, which begins at 3 p.m., is open to the public.
On May 8, 1945, Nazi Germany signed a surrender agreement with the Russian military in Berlin, officially ending the war which began on Sept. 1, 1939. The day was dubbed V-E Day for Victory in Europe Day. The war against Japan would continue until August 1945.
The Military Museum event will feature remarks by Major General Raymond Shields, the adjutant general of New York, Myrian Gil, the deputy counsel for France in New York City, and two military historians.
A historic marker, which once showed the route of the United States Third Army from Normandy on D-Day to Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, will be formally unveiled during the event.
“It’s important to not only remember and commemorate the end of the war in Europe, but also to honor the Soldiers who fought against Nazism and to recognize the alliances and united efforts that defeated Germany, rebuilt Europe, and opposed the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War,” said Courtney Burns, the Director of Military History and museum director for the NYS Division of Military and Naval Affairs.
One of the two historian’s speaking is Patrick Chaisson, a retired New York Army National Guard major from Schenectady who has been a popular speaker at the Military Museum’s annual series of springtime talks.
Chaisson will speak about New York’s contributions in winning World War II and about the role the New York National Guard played in winning the war in Europe.
While the vast majority of New York National Guardsmen fought in the Pacific, some New York National Guard units fought in the European theater. The ancestors of today’s 258th Field Artillery and 101st Cavalry distinguished themselves in Europe. In the closing days of the war, the National Guardsmen of the 101st Cavalry captured German Field Marshell Kesselring, and the Japanese ambassador to Germany.
Army Capt. Dana Mendes, a military history instructor at the United States Military Academy will discuss the U.S. relationship with France and the end of the war.
Gil, representing the French government, will officially unveil a marker, or “borne” from the Le voie de la Liberte’ which runs 687 miles across France from Normandy into Belgium.
Translated into English as “Liberty Road” or “Liberty Highway” the route follows that of the Third Army from July 1944 to January 1945.
The 1,146 kilometer route, which begins where the 101st Airborne Division landed at St. Mere Eglise, features one of the markers every kilometer. Ther markers feature 48 stars, for the number of states in Union at the time and the Third Army patch.
The marker now in the New York State Military Museum after being refurbished, was presented to the New York National Guard’s Camp Smith Training Site at some point, according to Burns. It was turned over to the museum in 2016.
The marker appears to have been located at the village of Pleugueneuc before it made its way to the United States. It was restored earlier this year by Dawn D’Aluisio and John Lippert of Foreground Conservation and Decorative Arts in Hudson.
The New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center, administered by the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs tells the story of New Yorkers involvement in American Wars from the Revolutionary War to the present day. The museum is located at 61 Lake Avenue in Saratoga Springs and is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
