2. Republic of France Naval Memorial

The French gravestones look different from U.S. graves at Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn

The large Latin cross in Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn honors twenty-five French sailors who died in New York. This 12-foot granite cross was erected in memory to sailors of the Republic of France Navy. As with so many American deaths at the time, the influenza pandemic accounted for all but one of their deaths, which all happened between Oct 3-24, 1918. Each has a gray granite headstone with a bronze plaque on top; they are markedly different from U.S. gravestones.

The four ships on the memorials are the Gloire, an armored cruiser, the cruisers Marseillaise and Montcalm, and Armement Militaire des Bâtiments de Commerce, an armed merchant ship. The France-American Society erected the monument in 1920.