We would stay through the week and then go home to the base on the weekends. We would commute on military buses from different military bases," Lance Burris, the group's President said. "They called us 'military brats.' It was a unique way to grow up."
The school building where we attended was once the headquarters of Napoleon before his exile. A moat is near the school building that had been blocked off so the French could build ships during World War II. "The moat had been drained but for the past five years they've been building a replica of the ship of Lafayette," Burris said. "We hope to travel to see the ship in 2015. They're going to sail the ship the path Lafayette took up the East Coast. Rochefort High School is on one of the sails of the ship." The frigate Hermione was linked to the Marquis de Lafayette. The original ship was built in 1779. It embarked on a trip from Rochefort to Boston in 1780.
Rochefort American High School was closed in 1958 when all US military bases were closed in France. Since then, every two years, those who attended the HS get together for a reunion somewhere in the United States. Theprevious reunion was held in Reno, Nev. This year it was held in the Indianapolis area.
