Hays, Kansas
1305 Canterbury Dr.
GPS coordinates: 38.872116,-99.300313
Take a photo of your rally flag with the above image.

This is one of the 49 boxcars filled with gifts from the French people brought to the United States in February 1949 – part of the Gratitude Train – a "merci" for the help Americans had given rebuilding France after the German occupation. There was one boxcar for each state of the union, with a 49th for the District of Columbia.

Once arriving in Kansas, this car and its contents were on display in Topeka then toured 120 Kansas towns over a 140 day period. The tour ended on Armistice Day, November 11, 1949 when the boxcar was parked on the Fort Hays State College campus. It is now in front of the Veterans Park in Hays.

It was appropriate that these small boxcars were used in the Gratitude Train. The boxcars were built between 1852-1885 and were used to transport America’s Infantry and Cavalry to the fighting front during both world wars. Originally, each car was marked with a 40/8, a symbol well recognized by the troops, as each box car would hold 40 men or 8 horses. Known to be a pretty miserable mode of transportation, the boxcars were usually dirty, provided no seats or heat and obviously cramped.

At the conclusion of the war a service organization of United States war veterans was formed, called La Societie des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux (The Society of Forty Men and Eight Horses). Also known as "40&8" the organization took responsibility for the boxcars when they were received in the US and are still caretakers for most of the cars that remain 62 years later.

The Kansas Merci Boxcar has a memorial case on one end of the boxcar, which is used to honor the passing of local veterans for a 30-day period.

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Tour of Honor-Kansas is sponsored by Cindy Dietz from Kansas City.