In 1824 when he returned to the US touring each of then 24 states of the Union, at the invitation of fellow veteran of the Revolution, President James Madison, Lafayette was often complimented on how well he spoke English. With charm and humor Lafayette responded that how should an American not speak English after a long foreign journey. The most American of Frenchmen, and a true lover of this country and of liberty.
USS Lafayette SSBN-616, fleet ballistic missile nuclear submarine, lead ship of her class. Sadly she’s decommissioned, defueled, her reactor core buried in the desert somewhere, and her steel hull now recycled into razor blades and other metal products. She served from 1963 to 1991, less than 30 years. She couldn’t compete with the Ohio class behemoths.
Lafayette, someone to love.