The SAR MAGAZINE is the official quarterly publication of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution published quarterly.
Issue link: http://sar.epubxp.com/i/422786
FALL 2014 15 LARRY T. GUZY Registrar General Candidate for Treasurer General 2015-2016 Professional • Retired 2013 after 28 years as CEO and CFO of corporation I founded in 1985. National • Life member since 1998, member since 1995 • Minuteman Class of 2006 • Congress Planning Chairman, 2006-2009 • Task force co-chair, Center for Advancing America's Heritage Development 2008 • Vice President General, South Atlantic District, 2003-2004 • Chairman, Council of Vice Presidents General, 2003-2004 • Membership Committee Chair or Co-Chair, 2002-2006 • Secretary/Treasurer Council of State Presidents, 2005-2007 • First line signer of over 145 members • Holder of 6 National Gold Medals Georgia Society • President GASSAR, 2000-2001; Trustee, 2001-2002 • Many GA Committees including 2015 Nominating • Captain John Collins Chapter—84 charter members. Founding President, later Secretary, Treasurer, Registrar, Membership, Editor Collins Dispatch, since 2001 • President, Piedmont Chapter, 1998-1999 • 2009 Georgia Congress Planning Chair since 2001 Personal • Lt. U.S. Navy Reserves, 1970-1973, Active Duty • BS Math, Marquette University • Eagle Scout 1961, OA 1962, Brotherhood 1963 • Married to Karin E. Guzy since 1969 Early endorsements by Atlantic Middle States, South Atlantic District, AL, OH, VA, FL, SC, & Georgia Societies Mail endorsement letters to: PG Joseph Dooley, Chairman NSSAR Nominating Committee joexyz@verizon.net 3105 Faber Drive, Falls Church, VA 22044-1712 n The 1914 American volunteers. n Maxence de Charette, who was killed in August 1914. He was a descendant of François Athanase de Charette, who, after fighting in the American Revolution, led the revolt of Vendée against the Terror in 1792-1796. n Admiral du Chaffault, who was born in Vendée and won the first great naval victory against the British in 1778. Then, PG Brock announced new SAR members Philippe and Nicolas de Villiers, who are direct descendants of Maréchal de Ségur, the French war minister at the time of the French intervention in the America Revolution, and his son, Louis Philippe de Ségur, an officer in Rochambeau's army who became King Louis XVI's ambassador to Russia. After dinner, the delegation watched "Cinéscénie," the largest stage performance in the world, with thousands of actors, hundreds of horses and about 400 fireworks. All of the actors and actresses—even the children—come from the local villages and are volunteers. On the way back to Paris, we visited and laid a wreath at the Memorial of Lafayette Squadron, an air force unit that enrolled some of the 1914 volunteers whose remains lay in the crypt. The celebrations ended at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Traffic was halted as we paraded from the Champs Élysées to the monument. Then came a wreath laying and reviving the Eternal Flame to the Unknown Soldier. A detachment of the Foreign Legion presented the honors. The farewell dinner was shared with members of the Society in France at a typical 1890s Parisian restaurant. Part of the delegation extended their visit to France with a short trip to Bordeaux, a trade harbor that played a great role in supplying the American Revolution. Jean-Mathieu Robine, a delegate of the Society in the region of Aquitaine, guided us in this beautiful 18th-century city. We spent the next day visiting and tasting wine in three vineyard estates that once belonged to French combatants in the American Revolution. Q&A; with Jacques de Trentinian on Sept. 12 following the plaque unveiling Trentinian is Vice President General (Europe) of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and coordinator of the 1914 American Volunteers, 100th anniversary celebration Why did we commemorate World War I American volunteers at Puy du Fou? "We honor these men because in 1914 they made a gesture of gratitude for the French contribution to the liberty of the United States, and because their early sacrifice—three years before their own country was at war—underlined how just our cause was. And the commemoration explains to today's Americans, whose ancestors have fought in the French armies, that what was at stake was not a European civil war denounced by modern politicians, but a war against tyranny, a war for liberty, which also was a concern for them." Why did we come here? What is there in common between the cause of the American patriots and the cause of the men who are honored at Puy du Fou? "It is precisely the fact that in the two cases there was a struggle against tyranny: American patriots fought against a sovereign who was the oppressor, while another sovereign, the French king, was their liberator. "Whereas, years later, the province of Vendée discovered that tyranny was not necessarily the deed of a monarch but also could be the fruit of a regime, which pretended to be republican. Tyranny is a perversion of the human mind, which can develop under any regime. "There was in the American Revolution a remarkable hero, Gen. George Washington, who was to become the first president of the United States. This man never renounced, never gave way after being defeated. He always returned to attack and finally led his compatriots to victory. "Just the same in France after the Battle of the Frontiers, where Maxence de Charette lost his life, we were defeated by the strategic error of underestimating the enemy rushing through Belgium. All our armies were in retreat. But there was a man, Gen. Gallieni, who grasped the critical instant and convinced the general in chief to launch the counterattack on the River Ourcq, which led to the victoire de la Marne. "These men (American patriots, Vendean patriots, soldiers and American volunteers of 1914) demonstrated that in the most unfavorable situations, the duty is to never renounce: Liberty is at this price. "Vive le Puy du Fou, vive la France, long life to the French and American friendship!" t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t