Son of immigrants pays tribute to American veterans

Narayan Sengupta will plant 270 small American flags on the lawn of Smyrna’s Veterans Memorial on Tuesday. His patriotism is rooted in stories told to him by parents who came to America from India and France.

The Smyrna Rotary Club president is organizing a Veterans Day event that will start at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the veterans park on King Street. It’s scheduled as an informal gathering where local veterans can meet and exchange stories.

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Mena Sengupta

Narayan Sengupta, here with his 4-year-old daughter Amelie, is organizing a Veterans Day event at Smyrna’s Veterans Memorial Park on Tuesday.

“These guys did everything for us,” Sengupta, 42, said. “And they are being forgotten by time.”

Sengupta, the owner of a Web site development firm, has a passion for history, and is passing on his love of country to his daughters, 4-year-old Amelie and 6-year-old Mena. He recently finished a 90-page research project on American aviators during World War I.

He remembers his father telling him how American educators encouraged him after he immigrated from India in 1958 to teach architecture at North Carolina State University. His mother recalled American soldiers in 1944 liberating the village where she grew up, about 35 miles east of Paris.

His French family has warm memories of Americans from both wars. His great-great grandmother, Melina Thibault, housed American pilots, including President Theodore Roosevelt’s youngest son, Quentin, during WWI. His grandfather met Edith Roosevelt when she visited his village after her son’s death in 1918.

In July, Sengupta traveled to his mother’s homeland to honor Quentin Roosevelt on the 90th anniversary of his death. About 100 citizens and five local mayors joined his family to remember the fallen aviator.

“With the loss of our WWI veterans, it’s important for us to honor the veterans who are left,” Sengupta said. “This Tuesday, we will welcome veterans of all ages.”