Lafayette, we are here

1. Words spoken by an American military officer in 1917 at the tomb of a French patriot, the Marquis de Lafayette , who fought for the United States in the Revolutionary War . “Lafayette, we are here” suggested that, by entering World War I on the side of France , Americans were repaying a debt to the French, who had helped the United States gain its independence from Britain . Some have identified the person who first said “Lafayette, we are here” as General John Pershing .