Following last week’s “sister-city” visit from a Carentan, France, contingent to Christian County, one thing can be certain.
This is a relationship well on its way to mutual respect and admiration, and one filled with gratitude and unfettered possibilities of the future.
A history teacher and curator of the Normandy Victory Museum in Carentan, Patrick Fissot brought with him a priceless relic of June 6, 1944 — better known as World War II’s “D-Day” invasion of northern France.
Some relics of that fateful, yet horrific, day remain under his and his staff’s care near Utah and Omaha Beach.
But this particular item, Fissot said, belonged in the hands of the Fort Campbell Historical Foundation, and the growing Tennessee Wings of Liberty Museum — which serves as sacred storage and display for the 101st Airborne Division, the 5th Special Forces Group, and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
Fissot said he is always “very pleased” to be in Hopkinsville, because it’s always a new occasion to meet with people he knows, while discovering new people, new businesses and new high schools.
He added, however, that every trip back to this region brings with it an honor and privilege to meet with Fort Campbell and 101st Airborne Division Air Assault officials.
What the 101st Airborne Division is doing now, Fissot continued, was shared through reflective discussions held last Wednesday and Thursday.
As an educator, Fissot is one of several local and international authorities responsible for last year’s Carentan student study abroad experience, in which 25 school-aged children rotated into Hopkinsville before later visiting New York City.
This is one of the many reasons he returned to Christian County this year. Last Friday, he met with Christian County Public Schools Superintendent Chris Bentzel, and Fissot said there is a plan for another student exchange — perhaps from here to there — in 2027.
It takes at least 2 ½ years, he noted, to raise funds for each Carentan class to come here, and the overall idea is to continue building deeper partnerships.
This growing French connection has a chance to be more than a cultural, militaristic link between Hopkinsville, Christian County and Carentan.
With relationships becoming more than familiar now, an economic exchange of ideas can be brought to the table — just to see what fits, and what doesn’t, in a global market.
The two regions are more aligned than one would initially think. Both possess considerable farm and pasturing space, lush rolling hills, a plethora of natural waterways and a sense of pastoral peace akin to the shepherd’s rural lifestyle.
Carter Hendricks, executive director for the South Western Kentucky Economic Development Council, said conversations have only grown since France’s first official delegation made the trip here in 2019 — in what truly is an organic relationship with Fort Campbell and its famed “Rendezvous With Destiny.”
It’s worth noting that south western Kentucky, but particularly Christian County, is no stranger to foreign emissaries and their commercial ingress into the region. Nearly two dozen companies, under a wide umbrella of industries, calls here “home.”
Hendricks said at least two Christian County delegations have paid visit to northern France since 2019, closely tied to “D-Day” anniversaries, but “justifiably affordable visits” based on business parlance remain as an option.
