Lafayette, we are here

Words spoken by an American military officer in 1917 at the tomb of a French patriot, the Marquis de Lafayette , who fought for the United States in the Revolutionary War . “Lafayette, we are here” suggested that, by entering World War I on the side of France , Americans were repaying a debt to the French, who had helped the United States gain its independence from Britain . Some have identified the person who first said “Lafayette, we are here” as General John Pershing .

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Example Sentences

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“Lafayette, we are here!” the Americans announced—a tribute to the Marquis de Lafayette, who sailed to America at the age of nineteen and served as a volunteer under George Washington during the American Revolutionary War.

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Charles E. Stanton’s legendary utterance: “Lafayette, we are here!”

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Charles Stanton, an aide to Gen. John J. Pershing, told the French, “Lafayette, we are here.”

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The shouts of "Lafayette, we are here!" symbolised a country repaying its debt 140 years later.

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When he was called upon, he was dumfounded, but at last he said, "Well, Lafayette, we are here."

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Lafayette, Marquis de Lafcadio's Adventures

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