The Order of Lafayette

The Order of Lafayette

Membership

A serving officer of the famed 369th Regiment ("The Harlem Hellfighters"), New York Army National Guard, Colonel Hamilton Fish III founded the Order of Lafayette as a society to give recognition to all commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces, male or female, who served in France during World War I, or in France or French possessions during World War II. It also includes United States officers who served in France during World War I in the Lafayette Escadrille Flying Corps, the American Field Service, or with the Allies. Military service in France includes participating in an invasion or flight within the coastal areas of France or French possessions.

American enlisted men who served in France or in French possessions during World War I or World War II, and who were commissioned later are also eligible for membership in the Order of Lafayette, as well as commissioned officers and non-commissioned officers of the French Foreign Legion. Membership in the order is also open to all recipients, regardless of rank, of the Congressional Medal of Honor or the French Medaille Militaire who served in France or French possessions during World War I or World War II, and are admitted as members without having to pay dues to the Order.

All lineal descendants, male or female, of original members, or those who would have qualified as original members, are eligible for full membership in the Order on reaching the age of twenty-one years.

Download the Membership Application

Don't have a copy of Adobe Reader?
Click on the icon below to download one!