2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

1,722
13
14
15
16
The AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS

COMMISSION was created by act of

Congress in March 1923 to erect and

maintain memorials in the United

States and foreign countries where

the United States Armed Forces have

served since 6 April 1917, and to control as to design and provide regulations for the erection of monuments,

markers and memorials in foreign

countries by other United States citizens and organizations, public or

private. It was later given responsibility for establishing or taking over

from the Armed Forces permanent

burial grounds in foreign countries

and designing, constructing, operating and maintaining permanent

17

St. Mihiel American Cemetery, Thiaucourt, France

AMERICAN MEMORIALS

and

OVERSEAS MILITARY

CEMETERIES
cemetery memorials at these burial

sites; controlling as to design and

materials, providing regulations for

and supervising erection of all monuments, memorials, buildings and

other structures in permanent

United States cemetery memorials

on foreign soil; and controlling the

design of U.S. private monuments

and cooperating with American citizens, states, municipalities, or associations desiring to erect war memorials outside the continental limits of

the United States. It is not responsible for construction, maintenance or

operation of cemeteries in the continental United States or its territories and possessions.

18
After World War I, the American

Battle Monuments Commission

erected a memorial chapel in each of

the eight military cemeteries overseas already established by the War

Department, as well as twelve 

monuments and two bronze tablets

on the battlefields and elsewhere, to

record the achievements of our

Armed Forces. In 1934, the World

War I overseas cemeteries were

transferred to the Commission by Executive Order.

The names and locations of these

World War I cemetery memorials,

the number of burials and the 

number of missing recorded at their 

memorials are:

19
World War I monuments erected

by the Commission are located at or

near: Audenarde and Kemmel,

Belgium; Bellicourt, Brest, Cantigny,

Chateau-Thierry, Montfaucon,

Montsec, Sommepy, and Tours,

France; Gibraltar and Washington,

DC. World War I tablets are at

Chaumont and Souilly, France.

By the end of World War II, several

hundred temporary cemeteries had

been established by the American

Graves Registration Service of the

United States Army. During the

years 1947 to 1954 that Service, complying with the expressed wishes of

the next of kin, and by authority of

law, repatriated the remains of some

172,000 recovered bodies. The remainder were given final interment

in the permanent military cemeteries

on foreign soil, in private cemeteries

overseas and in the national cemeteries in Honolulu, Sitka, Alaska and

Puerto Rico (which are now administered by the National Cemetery

Administration, Department of

Veterans’ Affairs). As was the case

after World War I, some remains

were left in isolated graves outside 

of the cemeteries by request of the

families who then became responsible for their maintenance.

Fourteen sites in foreign countries were selected as permanent cemeteries in 1947 by the Secretary of the

Army and the American Battle

Monuments Commission in concert. Their locations reflect the progress of the military operations and

were selected with consideration of

their accessibility, aspect, prospect,

drainage and other practical factors.

The World War II cemeteries with

number of burials, including Unknowns, and the numbers of Missing recorded at their memorials and

at three separate memorials on

United States soil are:

20

Burials Missing

World War I Known Unknown Commemorated

Aisne-Marne, Belleau, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,039 250 1,060

Brookwood, England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427 41 563

Flanders Field, Waregem, Belgium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347 21 43

Meuse-Argonne, Romagne, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,760 486 954

Oise-Aisne, Fere-en-Tardenois, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,415 597 241

St. Mihiel, Thiaucourt, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,036 117 284

Somme, Bony, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,706 138 333

Suresnes (See WW II also), France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,535 6 974

Totals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,265 1,656 4,452

Burials Missing

World War II Known Unknown Commemorated

Ardennes, Neupre (Neuville-en-Condroz), Belgium . . 4,537 788 462

Brittany, St. James, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,313 97 498

Cambridge, England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,788 24 5,127

Epinal, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,186 69 424

Florence, Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,189 213 1,409

Henri-Chapelle, Belgium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,898 94 450

Lorraine, St. Avold, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,338 151 444

Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg . . . . . . . 4,975 101 371

Manila, Republic of the Philippines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,462 3,740 36,282

Netherlands, Margraten, Holland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,195 106 1,722

Normandy, St. Laurent-sur-Mer, France . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,080 307 1,557

North Africa, Carthage, Tunisia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,601 240 3,724

Rhone, Draguignan, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799 62 294

Sicily-Rome, Nettuno, Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,371 490 3,095

Suresnes (See WW I also), France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . — 24 —
Use of the permanent cemetery

sites on foreign soil was granted in

perpetuity by the host government

to the United States free of cost, rent

and taxation. The temporary cemetery sites not selected as permanent

cemeteries reverted to the landowners.

In 1947, an outstanding American

architect was selected to design each

of the World War II cemeteries, conceiving its grave plots, a chapel and

battle map exhibit as complementary

elements of an integral memorial to

the services and sacrifices of the

American Armed Services who

fought in the particular region. Upon

approval of their general schemes by

the Commission and by agreement

with the Secretary of the Army, the

architects’ plans of the grave plots

were followed by the American

Graves Registration Service in making the permanent burials of those

remains which by decision of the

next of kin were to be interred overseas. The timely cooperation between these two agencies contributed appreciably to the coherence of

the development of the cemetery 

designs.

Beginning in the latter half of 1949,

the permanent interments having

been virtually completed, the World

War II overseas cemeteries were progressively transferred for construction and maintenance to the

American Battle Monuments Commission by Presidential Executive

Order. Thereupon, the remaining

portions of the architects’ designs

were carried out, step by step —

grading; installation of a system of

reinforced concrete beams on piles to

maintain the levels and alignments

of the headstones; fabrication and

installation of the headstones; construction of water supply and distribution systems, utilities buildings,

roads and paths; plantings; and erection of the memorials, visitors’ buildings and flagpoles.

For design of the various memorials, no specific limitations were

imposed upon the architects other

than budgeted cost and a requirement that each was to embody these

features:

A small devotional chapel;

inscription of the names and 

particulars of the Missing in the 

region;

a graphic record, in permanent

form, of the services of our troops

(WW II only; however, Oise-Aisne,

Meuse-Argonne and St. Mihiel

WW I American Cemeteries also

have battle maps).

These requirements have been interpreted in a wide and interesting

variety of forms.

An important motive for the construction of the memorials is the implied undertaking by our Government to record by monuments the achievements of our Armed Services, since the erection of memorials by the troops (which in the past 

21

East Coast Memorial, New York City, New York . . . . . — — 4,609

Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . — — 18,096

West Coast Memorial, San Francisco, California . . . . . — — 412

Totals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86,732 6,506 78,976

World War II cemeteries maintained by the National Cemetery Administration,

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific . . . . . . . . . (See

Honolulu, Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,597 2,079 Honolulu

Memorial)

Puerto Rico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 — —

Sitka, Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 5 —

Other Missing in Action Commemorated by ABMC

Korean War, Honolulu Memorial,

Honolulu, Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . — — 8,200

Vietnam War, Honolulu Memorial,

Honolulu, Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . — — 2,504
unfortunately had all too often been

found to be poorly designed, poorly

constructed and lacking provision

for maintenance) was expressly forbidden by the military services. The

permanent graphic record takes the

form of military maps, usually large

murals, amplified by descriptive

texts in English as well as in the language of the country in which the

cemetery is located. The historical

data for these maps were prepared

by the American Battle Monuments

Commission. The maps themselves

were rendered by experienced artists in tasteful presentation using

various media: layered marbles,

fresco, bronze relief, mosaic concrete or ceramics. Another feature of

interest at each memorial is the two

sets of “key-maps”: “The War

Against Germany” and “The War

Against Japan.” Each set consists of

three maps, each covering about one-third of the period of our participation in the war. By these keymaps any major battle may be related to the others in time and space.

With each architect, an American

landscape architect, an American

sculptor and an American muralist

or painter usually collaborated.

Their combined talents produced 

the beauty and dignity of the memorials, all of which are dedicated to 

the memory of the achievements of

those who served and of the sacrifices of those who died. The construction of the cemeteries and memorials and the execution of most of

the works of art, were performed by

local contractors and artists under the

supervision of the Commission.

At each cemetery there is a visitors’

building or room, with comfortable

furnishings. Here visitors may learn

the grave locations (or inscriptions of

the Missing) at any of the overseas

cemeteries.

Each grave in the overseas ceme- teries is marked by a headstone of

white marble — a Star of David for

22

Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Cambridge, England
those of Jewish faith, a Latin cross 

for others. Each headstone bears the

deceased’s name, rank, service, organization, date of death and state 

or territory from which he entered

the military service.

In the World War I cemeteries,

headstones of the Unknowns, i.e.,

those remains which could not be

identified, bear the inscription:

HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY AN

AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO

GOD.

In the World War II cemeteries, the

inscription reads:

HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY A COMRADE IN ARMS KNOWN BUT TO GOD.

Tablets of the Missing (which also

include the names of those whose

remains could not be identified and

those lost or buried at sea) give name,

rank, organization and state; the circumstances under which death 

occurred often precluded the possibility of determining the exact date.

With the exception of January 1

and December 25, these cemeteries

are open every day of the year.

Photography is permitted without

special authorization, except when it

is to be used for commercial purposes — in such cases, permission

must be obtained from the

Commission.

Unlike National cemeteries under

jurisdiction of the Department of Vet- erans’ Affairs, there can be no further burials in the American military

cemeteries overseas except of those

remains which may, in the future, be

found on the battlefields. Essentially,

these graves with their memorials

constitute inviolable shrines.

In addition to the eight World War I

cemeteries, the fourteen World War II

cemeteries, eleven World War I 

monuments and two tablets, and 

the two World War II markers (Casablanca, Morocco and Papua, New

Guinea), the American Battle Monuments Commission’s program of

23

Brittany American Cemetery, St. James, Manche, France
commemoration includes the following:

SURESNES

At the Suresnes Cemetery Memorial,

senior representatives of the French

and United States governments pay

homage to our military Dead on 

ceremonial occasions. Accordingly, 24

Unknown Dead of World War II were

buried in this World War I cemetery,

and two loggias were added to its

chapel by the Commission, thereby

converting it into a shrine commemorating our Dead of both wars.

EAST COAST MEMORIAL

To commemorate those 4,609 American servicemen, 6,185 seamen of the

United States Merchant Marines and

the 529 seamen of the U.S. Army

Transport Service who, in or above

the waters off the coast of North and

South America, but outside the territorial limits of the United States, gave

their lives in the service of their country, the Commission erected a memorial in Battery Park, New York City,

upon which their names and particulars are inscribed.

WEST COAST MEMORIAL

Similarly, the names and particulars

of those 412 Americans who gave

their lives in the service of their country off the west coast of the Americas

but outside the territorial limits of 

the United States, are recorded at the 

memorial erected by the Commission at the Presidio of San Francisco.

HONOLULU MEMORIAL

Although the National Memorial

Cemetery of the Pacific at Honolulu

is administered by the Department

of Veterans’ Affairs, the American

Battle Monuments Commission constructed a memorial therein, incorporating the features of the memorials in its overseas cemeteries. The

names of 18,096 Missing of World

War II who gave their lives in the

Pacific areas (except the Southwest

and the Palua Islands which are

commemorated at the Manila Cemetery Memorial) are recorded here as

well as 8,200 Missing of the Korean

War and 2,504 Missing from the

Vietnam War.

SAIPAN MONUMENT is situated

near the beach overlooking Tanapag

Harbor on the Island of Saipan,

Commonwealth of the Northern

Mariana Islands. It is part of an

American memorial park commemorating the American and Marianas

Dead in the Marianas Campaign of

World War II. The monument honors

specifically the 24,000 American

marines and soldiers who died recapturing the volcanic islands of Saipan, Tinian and Guam during the

period of 15 June 1944–11 August

1944.

It is a twelve-foot rectangular obe- lisk of rose granite in a landscaped

area of local flora. Inscribed upon the

monument are these words: “THIS

MEMORIAL HAS BEEN ERECTED BY THE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN HUMBLE

TRIBUTE TO THE SONS WHO PAID THE

ULTIMATE SACRIFICE FOR LIBERATION

OF THE MARIANAS 1941–1945.”

The GUADALCANAL AMERICAN MEMORIAL is located on

Skyline Drive overlooking the town

of Honiara, Guadalcanal, Solomon

Islands. It honors those American

and Allied servicemen who lost their

lives during the Guadalcanal Campaign of World War II (7 August

1942–9 February 1943). The Memorial consists of a suitably inscribed

central pylon four feet square rising

24 feet above its base. Four radiating

directional walls point toward major

battle sites. Descriptions of the battles

are inscribed on the walls. Both the

walls and the pylon are constructed

of Red Calca granite.

CABANATUAN MEMORIALis located 85 miles north of Manila, approxi24
mately 5 miles south of the city of

Cabanatuan, Luzon, Republic of the

Philippines. It marks the site of the

Japanese Cabanatuan Prisoner of War

Camp where approximately 20,000

American servicemen and civilians

were held captive from 1942 to 1945,

after the fall of the Philippine Islands

during World War II. The memorial

also honors the heroic sacrifices made

by Filipino servicemen and civilians

in a mutual quest for honor, freedom

and peace. The memorial consists of a 90-foot

concrete base in the center of which

rests a marble altar. It is surrounded

on three sides by a fence of steel rods

and on the fourth by a Wall of Honor

upon which are inscribed the names

of the approximately 3,000 Americans who lost their lives while being

held captive. Co-located on the site are the West

Point Monument, which pays homage to the 170 American and 6 Filipino graduates of the U.S. Military

Academy who lost their lives during

the defense of the Philippines or

while prisoner of war at Cabanatuan

and the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor (a Filipino veterans organiza- tion) memorial which salutes their

American fallen comrades.

POINTE DU HOC MONUMENT

Following World War II, the French

erected a monument at Pointe du 

Hoc on the right flank of Omaha

Beach, overlooking the English

Channel honoring the elements of 

the 2nd Ranger Battalion under the

command of LTC James Rudder who

scaled the cliff, seized the position,

and defended it against German

counterattacks at a high cost of lives.

The monument consists of a simple

pylon on top of a concrete bunker at

the edge of the cliff and appropriate inscriptions at its base in French and

English. It was officially turned over

to the American government for 

operation and maintenance in perpetuity on 11 January 1979.

UTAH BEACH MONUMENT

The Utah Beach Monument is located

at the termination of Highway 

N-13D, approximately 3 kilometers

northeast of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont

25

Honolulu Memorial (WW II, Korea and Vietnam), National Memorial Cemetary of the Pacific,

Honolulu, Hawaii
26

Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial, Draguignan, Var, France
(Manche), France. This monument

commemorates the achivements of

the American Forces of the VII Corps

who fought in the liberation of the

Cotentin Peninsula from 6 June to 1

July 1944. It consists of a red granite

obelisk surrounded by a small, developed park overlooking the historic sand dunes of Utah Beach, one

of the two American landing beaches

during the Normandy Invasion of 6

June 1944.

Three memorials in Washington,

DC were also established by the

Commission, but are now administered by the National Park

Service.

The AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES MEMORIAL, located on Penn. Ave. between 14th

and 15th Streets, NW in Wash. DC,

commemorates the two million

American military personnel and

their CinC, Gen. John J. Pershing,

who made up the AEF of WWI.

It consists of a stone plaza 52 ft. by

27
75 ft., an 8 ft. statue of Gen. Pershing

on a stone pedestal, a stone bench

facing the statue and two 10 ft. high

walls, one along the south side of the

memorial area and one along the

east. The south wall contains two

battle maps with appropriate inscriptions. Inscribed upon the reverse face

of the east wall is Gen. Pershing’s

tribute to the officers and men of the

AEF: “IN THEIR DEVOTION, THEIR

VALOR, AND IN THE LOYAL FULFILLMENT OF THEIR OBLIGATIONS, THE 

OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE AMERICAN 

EXPEDITIONARY FORCES HAVE LEFT A

HERITAGE OF WHICH THOSE WHO FOLLOW MAY EVER BE PROUD.”

The WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL,

prominently located on the

National Mall in Washington, DC between the Lincoln

Memorial and the Washington

Monument, honors a nation

united in a just and common

cause.

It is the first memorial dedicated to the more than 400,000

Americans who gave their lives

for freedom, the 16 million who

served in uniform, and all who

contributed to the war effort on

the home front.

Symbolic of the defining event

of the 20th century, the memorial

is a testiment to the spirit, sacrifice and commitment of the

American people.

To learn more, visit our website at www.abmc.gov

KOREAN WAR

VETERANS MEMORIAL

The Korean War Veterans Memorial,

located on the National Mall in

Washington, DC, was dedicated on

27 July 1995. The Memorial commemorates the sacrifices of the 5.8

million Americans who served during the three-year period of the

Korean War. The war was one of the

most hard fought in our history.

During its relatively short duration,

25 June 1950–27 July 1953, 33,700 

Americans were killed in action;

8,200 of those killed in action were

classified as missing in action (and

presumed dead), or lost or buried at

sea. An additional 103,000 Americans were wounded during the conflict. An integral part of the

Memorial is the Korean War Honor

Roll, an interactive automated database, containing the names of those

U.S. military personnel who died

world-wide during the war.

MEXICO CITY

NATIONAL CEMETERY

The Mexico City National Cemetery

is at 31 Virginia Fabregas, Colonia

San Rafael, about 2 miles west of the

Metropolitan Cathedral and about

one mile north of the U.S. Embassy.

This cemetery was established in

1851 and contains a small monument

over the grave of 750 of our unidentified Dead of the War of 1847. In this

one acre area there are 813 remains of

Americans and others in wall crypts.

Care of the cemetery was transferred

from the Department of the Army to

this Commission on 16 July 1947.

This cemetery was closed to burials

in 1923.

COROZAL AMERICAN

CEMETERY, COROZAL,

REPUBLIC OF PANAMA

The Corozal American Cemetery is

located approximately three miles

north of Panama City, just off

Avenue Omar Torrijos Herrera between the Panama Canal Railway

Company Train Station and Ciudad

Del Saber (formerly Fort Clayton).

To reach the cemetery, turn right on

Calle Rufina Alfaro at the Crossroad

Bible Church and pro-ceed about

one-half mile to the ceme-tery. Taxi

and bus service to the cem-etery are

available from Panama City. There

28
are 5,336 Dead interred here. In

agreement with the Republic of

Panama, care and maintenance of

the cemetery in perpetuity was assumed by the Commission on 1

October 1979.

SERVICES TO THE PUBLIC

Upon request, and without cost, the

following information and services

are provided to family members 

and friends of those interred or commemorated at ABMC’s cemeteries

and memorials:

• name, location and general information about the cemetery, monument or memorial;

• plot, row and grave number and, if

applicable, memorialization site;

• authorization for issuance of feefree passports for members of the

immediate family traveling overseas specifically to visit an ABMC

grave or memorialization site;

• a photograph of grave and/or

memorialization sites affixed to a

large color lithograph of the appropriate cemetery and memorial;

• best route and modes of travel incountry to cemetery or memorial

site;

• general information about accommodations in the vicinity of the

cemetery or memorial;

• arrangement for floral decoration

of a grave or memorialization 

site. (Weather permitting, a color

photograph of the floral decoration in place is provided to the

donor).

29

Corozal American Cemetery, Corozal, Republic of Panama
30

Decorated Gravesite of a World War II “Unknown”
THE AMERICAN

BATTLE MONUMENTS

COMMISSION

ESTABLISHED BY CONGRESS MARCH 1923

UNITED STATES OFFICE

American Battle Monuments Commission

Court House Plaza II

Suite 500

2300 Clarendon Boulevard

Arlington, VA 22201

Telephone: (703) 696-6897

(703) 696-6896

FAX: (703) 696-6666

EUROPEAN OFFICE

Street Address:

68, rue du 19 Janvier

92380 - Garches, France

Mailing Address:

American Battle Monuments Commission

American Embassy - Paris

PSC 116

APO AE 09777

Telephone: (011-33) 1-4701-1976 (from U.S.

and other countries)

33-0-1-4701-1976 (within France)

FAX: (011-33)1-4741-1979

MEDITERRANEAN OFFICE

Street Address:

Via V. Veneto, 119/A

00187 Rome, Italy

Mailing Address:

American Battle Monuments Commission

American Embassy

PSC 833, Box 11

FPO AE 09624-0011

Telephone: (011-39) 06-4824-157

06-4890-3685 (from U.S.)

06-4824-154 (within Italy)

FAX: (011-39) 6-487-1624

PHILIPPINE OFFICE

Street Address:

Manila American Cemetery 

and Memorial

McKinley Road, Global City

Taguig, Philippines

Mailing Address:

Manila American Cemetery

PSC 513, Box 5

FPO AP 96515-1800

Telephone: (011-632) 844-0212 (from U.S.)

844-0212 (from Metro-Manila)

FAX: (011-632) 812-4717

31
Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial, Seine, France

2008