The photographs in this section appear courtesy
of
Gilles Lagin, who has spent much time in recent weeks
surveying the damage from the violent windstorm of December 20th
in the vicinity of Belleau Wood. According to Gilles, the storm struck at
8 a.m. and lasted only about 20 minutes.
Gilles lives in nearby Marigny-en-Orxois where he is
in the process of restoring a 16th-century barn on his
property to house a museum devoted to preserving the memory of
the Battle of Belleau Wood. The roof of the barn was
damaged by the storm.
Thus far, Gilles has counted over 300 trees destroyed just within the small area of Belleau Wood itself. The fallen trees are at present being cut
into firewood by woodcutters, whose chain saws are suffering
continual damage by striking the large number of shell fragments
still embedded in the old WWI-era trees.
The photos which follow show both the damage within the wood and
within the Aisne-Marne Cemetery which lies between the wood and
the village of Belleau. Further reports and photographs of the
damage will be posted here as they are received.
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