Liberty Road (France)

Soon after the end of World War II, Guy de la Vasselais, mayor of Bleury-Saint-Symphorien, previously French liaison officer to George S. Patton, suggested the idea of erecting a monument to commemorate the Liberation of France by the American Armies: a monument that would symbolize the idea of Liberty.

He proposed installation of a distinctive marker placed at each kilometre interval along the roads followed by General Patton's Third United States Army.

Beginning at Utah Beach in Normandy and ending at Bastogne in Belgium, the Liberty Road goes through the cities of Saint Malo, Rennes, Angers, Le Mans, Chartres, Fontainebleau, Reims, Verdun and Metz, and then through the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Along the circumference of the Milestone's dome-shaped top, the 48 stars representing the (then) 48 United States which took part in the Liberation of France.

President Ronald Reagan, accompanied by many heads of State, visited the first borne in 1984 to mark the 40th anniversary of D-Day.