By NORMAN M. COVERT
Members of La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux will be out in force nationwide this Memorial Day weekend helping support commemorative programs honoring our fallen warriers. They have been decorating graves with flags in addition to taking part in parades and other programs to honor our comrades who have fallen in battle. They will be active through Wednesday May 30, traditional Memorial Day.
Frederick Carroll Voiture 155's Locomotive, decorated for the 2011 Woodsboro, Md. Memorial Day parade.
Translated, the Society of 40 Men and Eight Horses, it is named for the French Box Cars (Voitures),?which took American Doughboys to the front during World War I and continue to be?known on the French railroad system as Voitures 40/8, meaning they will accommodate either 40 men or eight horses.? The organization is headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind. with Robert Molina serving as 2012 Chef de Chemin de Fer. It has chartered Grandes Voiture in all 50 states and territories, plus Latin America, Europe and Asia.
La Societe is a fraternity of veterans, called Voyageurs Militaire,?who have distinguished themselves in service to their comrades, veterans organizations and in community service activities.
La Societe was established in 1920 by members of the then new American Legion.?It continues today as a separate entity? proliferating Americanism, including conducting programs to teach U.S. Flag history and etiquette to first graders; activities supporting?youth sports; veterans? health/benefits?and their families; Nurses Training scholarships;?recovery of prisoners of war and missing in action; is a continued ?sponsor of the national Hansen?s Disease? (leprosy) Center in Carville, La.; and is devoted to honoring fallen comrades.
Grande du Maryland sports two historic locomotives to show?La Societe?s colors in parades, including Frederick/Carroll Voiture 155 and Washington County Voiture 651.?They will be appearing in several parades this weekend, including Hagerstown, Woodsboro and Westminster, which is conducting its 150th annual Memorial Day event Monday.
Both vehicles have been completely refurbished in recent years. The VL 155 Locomotive was constructed on behalf of the Baltimore City Voiture in 1951 by the B&O Railroad?s Claremont Repair Shop.?It was stored outdoors for many years and was a rusted hulk when given to VL 155 in 1998.?It is a 1950 GMC truck chassis with the original straight-eight engine. Several community organizations teamed with VL 155 to transport it to?sandblast and repaint its steel plates. Then Voyageur Bob Browning, owner of a towing company and?a vehicle hobbyist, teamed with a Mt. Airy, Md., group called ?Tin Lizzy? to get the engine working. Replacement parts are difficult to find, but upgrades continue to keep it safe and a unique advertising vehicle for La Societe.
Washington County Voiture 651's Locomotive "chugs" through parking lot of Hagerstown shopping center giving Christmas rides to children and families. Riding the "Cow Catcher" is Col. (CH) Richard Hembrock (USA, ret.).
The VL 651 Locomotive sat idle in the Hagerstown American Legion parking lot for several years until Brenda and Richard Dougan rounded up volunteers from the Voiture to grind off rust and old paint, repaint it and the distinctive ?Western Maryland Railroad? colors and markings, repair its unique ?Cow Catcher? and fix its engine mechanics, brakes and suspension.
(Brenda Dougan is the state?s senior ?Chef de Train? and will become the state Chef de Gare, chief of the Maryland station, in July.)
Both locomotives are active throughout the year. VL 651 regularly shows up on weekends at the Hagerstown shopping mall to give rides to children and families as an added attraction to the Christmas season.
Norman Covert serves as 40/8 National Sous Directeur of Americanism, Flags for First Graders, Area D. You may contact him at nmcovert@thecovertletter.com.
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