26

Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial, Draguignan, Var, France

ALGERIA

Cotentin Peninsula from 6 June to 1
July 1944. It consists of a red granite
obelisk surrounded by a small, de-
veloped park overlooking the his-
toric 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 ad-
ministered by the National Park
Service.

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The AMERICAN EXPEDITION-
ARY FORCES MEMORIAL, lo-
cated 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
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

27

‘Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Romagne, Meuse, France


the II Corps’ two divisions were
recommitted four miles/6.4 kilom-
eters to the east of their original sec-
tor. The fighting continued with the
Il Corp making a further nine-
mile/14.6 kilometers advance. The
II Corps was relieved from the line
on 21 October, and with the
armistice in November, the 27th
and 30th Divisions never again saw
battle on the Western Front. The II
Corps’ battles on the Somme cost
over 13,500 American casualties. Its
soldiers earned a total of nineteen
Medals of Honor.

THE SITE

The 14-acre Somme American
Cemetery is situated on a gentle
slope typical of the open, rolling
Picardy countryside. The cemetery
is named after the region in which
the American 1st, 27th, 30th, 33d
and 80th Divisions and the 6th and
the 11th Engineers fought during
the period between March 1917 and
September 1918. It is the final rest-
ing place of many of the American
War Dead who fought at Cambrai,
Hamel, in front of Amiens, and dur-
ing the Hindenburg Offensive.

The cemetery was first estab-
lished as a temporary cemetery by
the American Graves Registration
Service following the offensive in
1918. It was known as the American
Expeditionary Forces’ Somme
Cemetery No. 636. After the war,
the other temporary cemeteries in
the area were discontinued and the
military Dead of the region whose
next-of-kin requested burial over-
seas were moved to the Somme
American Cemetery for permanent
interment. Post-war administration
of the cemetery passed to the
American Battle Monuments

Commission in 1934. The
Commission landscaped the
grounds and constructed the
memorial chapel and other perma-
nent buildings. The cemetery was
dedicated on 30 May 1937.

ARCHITECT

Architect for the memorial chapel
and other architectural features was
George Howe of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.

GENERAL LAYOUT

The formal entrance, with its orna-
mental grill gates and fencing, is of
striking beauty. The entrance road
leads to the greystone Superinten-
dent’s Office and Visitors’ Building.
Directly in front of the building is
the visitors’ parking area. To the
tight of these, enclosed by a low
stone wall, are the graves area and
the memorial. A short bituminous
roadway, bordered by linden trees
on a carpet of grass, leads from the
Visitors' Building to the ornate
bronze gates through which the vis-
itor enters the graves area. This
area, which is divided into four
plots, A through D, is generally rec-
tangular in shape. The graveled
paths intersect the graves area at
the flagpole, which flies an
American flag. Mounted on the
base of the flagpole are four bronze
World War I trench helmets capping
bronze wreaths. The bronze orna-
mental items were executed by
Marcel Loyau of Boulogne, France
and were cast by the H. Rouard
Foundries of Paris, France.

Located in the rear of the graves
area in Plots C and D are two pillars
containing a carillon presented and
dedicated on 2 June 1996 by the

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cemetery memorials at these burial and cooperating with American citi-

sites; controlling as to design and zens, states, municipalities, or asso- Battle Monuments Commission War I overseas cemeteries were
materials, providing regulations for _ciations desiring to erect war memo- erected a memorial chapel in each of _ transferred to the Commission by Ex-
and supervising erection of all mon- _rials outside the continental limits of the eight military cemeteries over- ecutive Order.

uments, memorials, buildings and the United States. It is not responsi- seas already established by the War The names and locations of these
other structures in permanent _ ble for construction, maintenance or Department, as well as twelve World War I cemetery memorials,
United States cemetery memorials operation of cemeteries in the con- monuments and two bronze tablets the number of burials and the
on foreign soil; and controlling the _tinental United States or its terri- on the battlefields and elsewhere, to number of missing recorded at their
design of U.S. private monuments _ tories and possessions. record the achievements of our memorials are:

18

@ WORLD WAR Il CEMETERIES

3% WORLD WAR II MONUMENTS

ff After World War I, the American Armed Forces. In 1934, the World


Visitors Room

Gravesite of World War I Unknown Soldier

12 13


Robert R. McCormick Tribune
Foundation. The carillon plays the
national anthems of the United
States and France, Taps, as well as
other hymns.

THE MEMORIAL CHAPEL

At the southeastern end of the
cemetery stands a small memorial
Chapel of white Vaurion stone.

The chapel rests on a slightly
raised square podium and is
enclosed by a stone-faced wall.
Resting on the lintel of the entrance
doors is a sculptured bronze eagle
with wings spread. Above the
doors is inscribed the following:

TO THOSE WHO DIED

FOR THEIR COUNTRY

to remind the visitor that those
buried there, died for their freedom.
Flanking the inscription are sculp-
tured bayoneted rifles. Sculpted on
the exterior facade at one end of the
Memorial Chapel is a World War I
era tank and on the opposite facade
is an artillery piece. Beneath these
are arched windows providing light
for the interior of the Chapel, The
rear facade of the Chapel is embell-
ished by a crystal window in the
form of a cross. Above the window,
flanked by sculpted artillery shells,
is the inscription:
MORTS
POUR LA
PATRIE
(They Died for Their Country)

Two stylized sculptured eagles
flank the name of the cemetery.

CHAPEL INTERIOR

The Chapel is entered from the
stepped terrace through bronze

10

double doors studded with forty-
eight bronze stars representing the
then forty-eight states. Inside the
chapel, one’s attention is drawn to
the altar of Balacet marble. Across
the face of the altar is inscribed:

THOU O LORD HAS GRANTED
THEM ETERNAL REST

Immediately below the inscription
are the letters: IHS. Four bronze
candelabra sit on the altar. Behind
the candles, inlaid in the Vaurion
stone, is an hourglass motif embell-
ished by a bronze screen pattern. In
the center, embossed in bronze, is a
grapevine wreath which encircles

e ancient Greek religious symbol
for the “anointed one.” At the altar
base rests the Tablet of Moses. Inset
in the Haurteville marble floor,
within a circular bronze plaque, is a
large embossed star surrounded by
forty-eight smaller stars.

The names of 333 American
soldiers missing in the area whose
remains were never recovered, or, if
recovered were never identified, are
inscribed upon the side walls. The
following inscription precedes the
names on the north wall:

THE NAMES RECORDED ON THESE
WALLS ARE THOSE OF AMERICAN SOL-
DIERS WHO FOUGHT IN THIS REGION
WHO SLEEP IN UNKNOWN GRAVES

On the opposite walls, below the
flag staffs, additional names of
those Missing in Action in the
region are inscribed. Also inscribed
is the following:

THIS CHAPEL WAS ERECTED BY THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN GRATE-
FUL REMEMBRANCE OF HER SONS WHO
DIED DURING THE WORLD WAR.

Three windows illuminate the
chapel’s interior, one in the form of
a cross high above the altar. To the

left and right of the altar are beauti-
fully arched stained glass windows
containing the insignia of the major
units which participated in World
War I.

GRAVES AREA

The graves area consists of four rec-
tangular plots. The grave sites are
all marked with marble headstones
set in stately rows on a c of
grass. Stars of David mark the
graves of those of the Jewish faith
and Latin Crosses mark all others.
Of the 1,844 burials in the cemetery,
138 are Unknown. The remains of
three Medal of Honor recipients are
among those resting at the ceme-
tery. Each grave plot is bordered by
trees and plants. Those interred in
the cemetery came from all of the
then forty-eight states (sept
Vermont and Wyoming) and the
District of Columbia.

VISITORS’ BUILDING

At the upper end of the entrance
avenue are the Visitors’ Building

and parking area. Inside the build-
ing are the Superintendent's Office
and a comfortably furnished room
where visitors may rest and obtain
information from the cemetery
staff. The visitors’ register is main-
tained there. Burial locations and
sites of memorialization in all of the
overseas American military ceme-
teries of both World War I and
World War I, plus other informa-
tion of interest concerning the
American overseas cemeteries or
local history, may be obtained from
the Superintendent or the cemetery
staff.

PLANTINGS

The lane leading from the entrance
gate to the Visitors’ Building is
shaded by Linden trees. Plantings
of colorful polyantha roses border
the grave plots in the area sur-
rounding the flagpole. The meadow
areas are landscaped with massifs
of multicolored shrubs such as lilac,
ash, beech, cedar, elm, holly, ewe,
spruce, sycamore and pines.

Memorial Chapel and Graves Area from the Rear

i


The Cantigny Monument is
located in the village of Cantigny
(Somme), France, 4 miles/6.4 kilo-
meters northwest of Montdidier on
route D-26 from Montdidier to
Ailly-sur-Noye. From Paris, it is 66
miles/101 kilometers north via
Chantilly or Senlis.

This battlefield monument, com-
memorates the first offensive opera-
tion in May 1918 by a division size
American unit in World War I.

The 28th Infantry of the Ameri-
can First Division, operating under
the French X Corps, captured the
town of Cantigny from German
troops on 28 May 1918. In the subse-
quent two day counterattack,
launched by the Germans, which
included a 72-hour bombardment
from artillery guns of every caliber,
the village was completely de-
stroyed. However, the First Division
lost no ground and the Germans
were compelled to accept defeat.
This victory provided the Allies
with a concrete example of the fight-
ing ability of the American troops,
which were then beginning to arrive
in France in large numbers.

The monument consists of a
white stone stele (column) on a

16

Cantigny Moment

slightly raised platform. It is sur-
rounded by an attractive park
developed and maintained by the
American Battle Monuments Com-
mission. The quiet surroundings
now give no hint of the bitter hand-
to-hand fighting which took place
near the site of the monument.

On the face of the monument
appears the inscription:
ERECTED BY THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA TO COMMEMORATE THE

FIRST ATTACK BY AN AMERICAN DIVI-
SION IN THE WORLD WAR.

On the side of the memorial
appears the inscription:

THE FIRST DIVISION UNITED STATES
ARMY OPERATING UNDER THE X
FRENCH CORPS CAPTURED THE TOWN
OF CANTIGNY ON MAY 28 1918 AND
HELD IT AGAINST NUMEROUS COUN-
TERATTACKS.

French translations of these inscrip-
tions appear on opposite sides of
the monument.

Architect for the monument was
Arthur Loomis Harmon of New
York, New York. It was dedicated
on 9 August 1937.

St. Mihiel American Cemetery, Thiaucourt, France

AMERICAN MEMORIALS
and
OVERSEAS MILITARY
CEMETERIES

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 con-
trol as to design and provide regula-
tions for the erection of monuments,

markers and memorials in foreign
countries by other United States citi-
zens and organizations, public or
pe It was later given responsi-

ility for establishing or taking over
from the Armed Forces permanent
burial grounds in foreign countries
and designing, constructing, operat-
ing and maintaining permanent

17


Somme American Cemetery
and Memorial

The American Battle Monuments Commission


: ie

Hanah
Mt

Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Cambridge, England

unfortunately had all too often been
found to be poorly designed, poorly
constructed and lacking provision
for maintenance) was expressly for-
bidden by the military services. The
Permanent graphic record takes the
‘orm of military maps, usually large
murals, amplified by descriptive
texts in English as well as in the lan-
guage 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 art-
ists in tasteful presentation using
various media: layered marbles,
fresco, bronze relief, mosaic con-
crete 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 par-
ticipation in the war. By these key-

22

maps any major battle may be re-
lated 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 memo-
rials, all of which are dedicated to
the memory of the achievements of
those who ‘served and of the sacri-
fices of those who died. The con-
struction of the cemeteries and me-
morials 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 weave 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

Brittany American Cemetery, St. James, Manche, France

those of Jewish faith, a Latin cross
for others. Each headstone bears the
deceased’s name, rank, service, or-
ganization, 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 COM-
RADE 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 cir-
cumstances under which death
occurred often precluded the possibil-
ity of determining the exact date.

These cemeteries are open every
day of the year. Photography is
permitted without special authori-
zation, 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 fur-
ther burials in the American military
cemeteries overseas except of those
remains which may, in the future, be
found on the battlefields. Hesentially,
these graves with their memorials
constitute inviolable shrines.

In addition to the eight World War I
cemeteries, the fourteen World War I
cemeteries, eleven World War I
monuments and two tablets, and
the two World War II markers (Casa-
blanca, Morocco and Papua, New
Guinea), the American Battle Monu-
ments Commission’s program of
commemoration includes the follow-
ing:

23


World War I

Aisne-Marme, Belleau, France
Brookwood, England ....... 2.
Flanders Field, Waregem, Belgium
Meuse-Argonne, Romagne, France ..
Oise-Aisne, Fere-en-Tardenois, France
St. Mihiel, Thiaucourt, France
Somme, Bony, France .,....--
Suresnes (See WW Il also), France

Totals ....

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 I, 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, com-
plying with the expressed wishes of
the next of kin, and by authority of
law, repatriated the remains of some
172,000 recovered bodies. The re-
mainder were given final interment
in the permanent military cemeteries
on foreign soil, in private cemeteries
overseas and in the national cemeter-
ies in Honolulu, Sitka, Alaska and

Burials Missing
Known Unknown — Commemarated
cesses 2,089 250 1,060
427 41 563
347 2 43
13,760 486 954
5,415 597 241
4,036 117 284

138 333
6 974
29,265 1,656 4A52

Puerto Rico (which are now admin-
istered 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 responsi-
ble for their maintenance.

Fourteen sites in foreign countries
were selected as permanent ceme-
teries in 1947 by the Secretary of the
Army and the American’ Battle
Monuments Commission in con-
cert. Their locations reflect the prog-
ress 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 Un-
knowns, and the numbers of Miss-
ing recorded at their memorials and
at three separate memorials on
United States soil are:

Burials Missing
World War II Known Unknown — Conmemorated
Ardennes, Neupre (Neuville-en-Condroz), Belgium .. 4,537 792 462
Brittany, St. James, France ..... 4313 97 498
Cambridge, England . 3,788 24 5127
Epinal, France ....... 5,186 69 424
Florence, Italy ... 4,139 213 1409
Henri-Chapelle, Belgium ... 7,898 94 450
Lorraine, St. Avold, France . 10,338 151 444
Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, - 4975 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 .. 7371 490 3,095
Suresnes (See WW Lalso), France ..-..... = ub =

20

East Coast Memorial, New York City, New York
Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii
West Coast Memorial, San Francisco, California

World War Il cemeteries maintained by the National Cemetery Adntinistration,

Department of Veterans" Affairs
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific . .
Honolulu, Hawaii... .... 2.2.2.

Puerto Rico .....
Sitka, Alaska .

Other Missing in Action Commemorated by ABMIC
Korean War, Honolulu Memorial,

Honolulu, Hawaii
Vietnam War, Honolulu Memorial,

Honolulu, Hawaii .-........----.6++5+

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 ceme-
tery sites not selected as permanent
cemeteries reverted to the land-
owners.

In 1947, an outstanding American
architect was selected to design each
of the World War II cemeteries, con-
ceiving 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 mak-
ing the permanent burials of those
remains which by decision of the
next of kin were to be interred over-
seas. The timely cooperation be-
tween these two agencies contrib-
uted appreciably to the coherence of
the development of the cemetery
designs.

Beginning in the latter half of 1949,
the permanent interments havin;
been virtually completed, the World
War II overseas cemeteries were pro-
gressively transferred for con-
struction and maintenance to the
American Battle Monuments Com-
mission by Presidential Executive

4,609

— =- 18,096
= = 412
36,732 6,510 78,976
(Gee

11,597 2,079 Honolulu

Memorial)
69 = be
67 5 =
= - 8,200
we = — 2,504

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; con-
struction of water supply and distri-
bution systems, utilities buildings,
roads and paths; plantings; and erec-
tion of the memorials, visitors’ build-
ings and flagpoles.

For design of the various memo-
rials, no specific limitations were
imposed upon the architects other
than budgeted cost and a require-
ment 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 Il only; however, Oise-Aisne,
Meuse-Argonne and St. Mihiel
WWI American Cemeteries also
have battle maps).

These requirements have been in-
terpreted in a wide and interesting
variety of forms.

An important motive for the con-
struction of the memorials is the im-
plied undertaking by our Govern-
ment to record by monuments the
achievements of our Armed Ser-
vices, since the erection of memo-
rials by the troops (which in the past

21


Bellicourt Monument

The Bellicourt Monument is
located 118 miles/197 kilometers
northeast of Paris; 9 miles/14.5
kilometers north of the town of St.
Quentin (Aisne), France, on the
highway to Cambrai and 1 mile/1.6
kilometers north of the village of
Bellicourt and 3 miles/4.8 kilome-
ters from the Somme American
Cemetery. Erected above a canal
tunnel built by Napoleon I, it com-
memorates the achievements and
sacrifices of the 90,000 American
troops who served in battle with the
British Armies in France during
1917 and 1918.

The tunnel was one of the main

defense features of the Hindenburg
Line which was broken by Ameri-
can troops in a brilliant offensive in
September 1918. A map illustrating
the American operations is engraved
on the west facade of the memorial.
Next to the map is inscribed:
MAP SHOWING THE ATTACK OF THE
2ND AMERICAN CORPS, COMPOSED OF
THE 27TH AND 30TH DIVISIONS, WHICH
RESULTED IN BREAKING THE HINDEN-
BURG LINE IN THIS VICINITY.

The inscription also appears in
French. On the terrace, near the
map, is an orientation table. The
monument and maps _ were
designed by Paul Cret of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The monument is a large and
impressive rectangular stone block

14

set on a two-stepped terrace. It is
ornamented on its east face by bas-
relief figures, of heroic size, repre-
senting Valor and Remembrance. In
the center is a symbolic American
flag topped by an eagle. The figures
were executed by L. Bottiau of
Paris, France. Below the figures, on
the base of the monument appears
the inscription:

ERECTED BY THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA IN COMMEMORATION OF
THE AMERICAN UNITS WHICH SERVED
WITH THE BRITISH ARMIES IN FRANCE
DURING THE WORLD WAR.

On the north side of the monu-
ment is inscribed: 27TH DIVISION 80TH
DIVISION 11TH ENGINEERS (the
insignia of the 27th and 80th
Divisions also appear). On the south
side of the Memorial is inscribed:
30TH DIVISION 33RD DIVISION 6TH
ENGINEERS (the insignia of the 30th
and 33rd Divisions also appear).

Inscribed on the base of the mon-
ument on all four sides are the
names of places in the region where
important battles were fought by
American troops: CHIPILLY RIDGE
GRESSAIRE WOOD WARFUSEE-ABAN-
COURT MONTBREHAIN GOUZEAU-
COURT ST. SOUPLET PUISSIEUX AU
MONT QUENNEMONT FARM MAZ-
INGHIEN BELLICOURT.

The monument was dedicated
on 9 August 1937

Bellicourt Monument

15


of the French armies serving in the
center and southern sectors of the
Western Front. Attacking on 21
March, the Germans made great
initial gains and plunged the front
into crisis. Again, U.S. engineers
supporting the British became part
of the defense. Two companies of
the 6th Engineer Regiment serving
in the vicinity of Peronne, approxi-
mately 20 miles/32 kilometers east
of Amiens, joined a mixed Ameri-
can-British-Canadian defense force
to block the road about ten
miles/16 kilometers east of Amiens.
Fighting in the village of Warfusee-
Abancourt on the Peronne-Amiens
road during the last days of March
and into early April, the Americans
helped repel three German attacks
and fought as infantry for eight
days.

The German March offensive
changed the nature of the war.
American Commander-in-Chief,
General John J. Pershing placed the
American Expeditionary Force at
the call of the new Allied Supreme
Commander Marshal Ferdinand
Foch, Soon arriving American divi-
sions both trained and fought
alongside the Armies of Britain and
France.

The US. ist Division was
attached to the French First Army in
late April. In the early morning
hours of 28 May, the 1st Division’s
28th Infantry Regiment with two
companies of her sister regiment,
the 18th Infantry, attacked and
seized the hill town of Cantigny
which bulged into the Allied line.
Withstanding furious counter-
attacks and three full days of
bombardment, the 1st Division held
its gains. The attack at Cantigny

was America’s first division-sized
offensive in World War I.

By summer, the main weight of
Pershing’s forces shifted to the
Champagne area and further west
into Lorraine to help form the
American First Army, but American
divisions continued to arrive on the
still active Somme front which
would retain an American presence
until the war’s end.

On the 4th of July, four compa-
nies from the U.S. 33d Division,
interspersed with units from the
Australian Corps, helped to seize
the village of Hamel, east of Amiens
and near the 6th Engineers’ battle-
field. On 8 August 1918, the British
began a series of major offensives
that would continue until the
Armistice. The U.S. 80th Division
took part in these attacks from the
8th to the 18th of August near the
village of Serre while farther south,
the 131st Infantry drawn from the
US. 33d Division cleared the
heights and woods overlooking the
Somme River from Chipilly to Bray-
sur-Somme.

The U.S. II Corps with the 27th
and 30th Divisions was attached to
the British Fourth Army in
September and alternately served
as a complete corps under the tacti-
cal direction of Australian and
British corps. Recently arrived from
combat with the British in Flanders,
the II Corps was assigned to seize
one of the Western Front’s strongest
enemy objectives: the St. Quentin
Tunnel complex of the Hindenburg
Line.

The Corps’ objective lay about 40
miles/64 kilometers east of Amiens.
The Hindenburg Line consisted of
multiple tiers of trenches, strong-
points, underground protective

bays, barbed wire, and machine
gun nests sited on defensively
superior ground.

The American sector was about
7,500 yards wide, sited south of the
Escaut River at Vendhuile running
through Bony and Bellicourt to Ville
Noire. Enemy trenches were sited
both on the forward and reverse
slopes of a long ridge perpendicular
to the American attack. Behind the
ridge, the St. Quentin canal ran
through a four mile underground
tunnel used by the Germans to pro-
tect their troops from bombard-
ment.

Moving into the front lines to
replace British units in late
September, both divisions began
limited objective attacks to secure
jump-off lines for the main offen-
sive. While some success was
achieved to the flanks by both divi-
sions, the 27th Division’s attempt to
clear the strongpoints dominating
its attack zone was repulsed with

heavy casualties in one of its regi-
ments on 27 September, The offen-
sive, nevertheless, proceeded two
days later.

Attacking through furious fire on
29 September, the two American
divisions fought side by side for
two days to clear the ridge and tun-
nel. The 27th Division's sector
which encompassed the northern
half of the attack proved to be par-
ticularly vicious. In the area which
includes the Somme American
Cemetery and the hill to its north
known as “the knoll,” the 27th
Division’s 107th Infantry suffered
995 casualties during the first day’s
attack, the largest one-day
American regimental loss for the
entire war. The II Corps suffered
over 7,500 casualties during their
Hindenburg Line assault. There
were nine Medal of Honor recipi-
ents.

On 6 October, after having been
temporarily relieved from the front,

View of Graves Area


memorial area and one along the
east. The south wall contains two
battle maps with appropriate inscrip-
tions. 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 FULFILL-
MENT OF THEIR OBLIGATIONS, THE
OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE AMERICAN
EXPEDITIONARY FORCES HAVE LEFT A
HERITAGE OF WHICH THOSE WHO FOL-
LOW MAY EVER BE PROUD.”

The WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL,
prominently located on the

ational 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 dedi-
cated 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, sacri-
fice and commitment of the
American people.

To learn more, visit our web-
site 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 com-
memorates the sacrifices of the 5.8
million Americans who served dur-
ing 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

28

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 Ameri-
cans were wounded during the con-
flict. An integral part of the
Memorial is the Korean War Honor
Roll, an interactive automated data-
base, 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 unidenti-
fied 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 Gail-
lard Highway between the Corozal
Railroad Station and Fort Clayton. To
reach the cemetery, follow Gaillard
Highway north from Panama City,
turn right on Rybicki Road, 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 are 5,336 Dead interred here.
In agreement with the Republic of
Panama, care and maintenance of
the cemetery in perpetuity was as-
sumed 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 Fiends of those interred or com-
memorated at ABMC’s cemeteries
and memorials:

* name, location and general infor-
mation about the cemetery, monu-
ment or memorial;

® plot, row and grave number and, if
applicable, memorialization site;

¢ authorization for issuance of fee-
free passports for members of the
immediate family traveling over-
seas 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 ap-

ropriate cemetery and memorial;

best route and modes of travel in-

country to cemetery or memorial
site;

© general information about accom-
modations 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 decora-
tion in place is provided to the
donor).

Corozal American Cemetery, Corozal, Republic of Panama

29


Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial, Seine, France


HOURS

The cemetery is open daily to the
public between the hours of 9:00
am and 5:00 pm. (The cemetery is
closed on January 1 and
December 25. It is open on all
other U.S. and host country holi-
days.)

During these hours, a staff
member is on duty at the Visitors’
Building to escort relatives to
grave or memorialization sites.

HISTORY

Following the United States entry
into World War I, the American
government promised to raise and
send a trained army numbering
more than one million men to

France to fight on the side of the
Allies. America’s army at the time
numbered only 200,000 men and
no formed divisions existed.
Beginning in May 1917, American
troops began arriving in France, ini-
tially to train, not to fight.

After three years of fighting,
however, the Allies needed relief. In
late summer 1917, small engineer
contingents were released to assist
Britain’s army in its sector of the
Western Front northeast of Paris. By
war's end, five American divisions
and many separate units would
fight alongside their British allies,
most in the department (region) of
France named for the River Somme.
For the Americans who would fight
there, first combat came at Cambrai,
approximately 130 miles/209 kilo-
meters to the northeast of Paris.

The British attack at Cambrai, the
first massed tank offensive in his-
tory, began on 20 November 1917

Flag Pole Base with Trench Helmets

SOMME CEMETERY

8 ns eras
ST

Location of Cemetery Features

and made significant gains. By 30
November, the British attack had
ground to a halt due to a lack of
reserves, the mechanical unreliabil-
ity of the primitive tanks, and a
greatly reinforced German defense.
About ten miles/16 kilometers to
the southeast of the British salient’s
tip at Cambrai, lay the town of
Gouzeaucourt. Here the American
11th Engineer Regiment was repair-
ing rail lines and building a rail
yard for the British.

On 30 November, the Germans
mounted a major counterattack
aimed at the salient’s flanks and
directly in front of the Americans.
When the British line buckled, U.S.
engineers armed themselves and

joined the British defense, some
fighting as infantry while others
joined the counterattack force that
recaptured the town by the end of
the day. The 11th Engineers suffered
eighteen casualties. Earlier in
September, the 11th had suffered
the first U.S. battle casualties while
serving in the same sector.

While American divisions were
arriving in increasing numbers, the
separate peace signed by Russia
with Germany freed nearly 60
enemy divisions for use in the West.
In March 1918, the Germans
massed 50 divisions in the Somme
Region of northern France, intend-
ing to split the British armies serv-
ing in the north from the main body



Chapel Interior

LOCATION

The Somme American Cemetery
and Memorial is situated ¥, mile
southwest of the village of Bony
(Aisne), France, approximately 120
miles/193 kilometers northeast of
Paris. Bony is 1% miles/2.4 kilome-
ters west of highway N-44, 13
miles/21 kilometers north of St.
Quentin and 14 miles/22.5 kilome-
ters southwest of Cambrai. The
road leading to Bony leaves high-
way N-44, 10 miles/16 kilometers
north of St. Quentin, a short dis-
tance north of the American monu-
ment near Bellicourt. The cemetery
can be reached by train from the
Gare du Nord station in Paris via

Peronne or St. Quentin in about 14%
hours. Taxi service to the cemetery
is available from each of these sta-
tions.

The cemetery can also be reached
by automobile via the Paris-Lille-
Bruxelles toll autoroute (A-1) to exit
13 (Valles de la Somme) then via N-
29 to Vermand and Bellenglise, on
D-31 to highway N-44 or Brussels-
Reims toll autoroute (A-26), exit 9
via highway N-44 south for 7%
miles/12 kilometers to Bony.

Hotel accommodations are avail-
able at Peronne, St. Quentin and
Cambrai.

Graves Area from Bronze Gate



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 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 commemo-
rating our Dead of both wars.

EAST COAST MEMORIAL

To commemorate those 4,609 Ameri-
can 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 terri-
torial limits of the United States, gave
their lives in the service of their coun-
try, the Commission erected a memo-
rial in Battery Park, New York City,
upon which their names and particu-
lars are inscribed.

WEST COAST MEMORIAL

Similarly, the names and particulars
of those 412 Americans who gave
their lives in the service of their coun-

off the west coast of the Americas
but outside the territorial limits of
the United States, are recorded at the
memorial erected by the Commis-
sion 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 con-
structed a memorial therein, incor-
porating the features of the memo-
rials 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 Ceme-

24

tery 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 commem-
orating 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 re-
capturing the volcanic islands of Sai-
pan, Tinian and Guam during the
eriod of 15 June 1944-11 August
944.

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 AMERI-
CAN 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 Cam-
Paign of World War II (7 August
942-9 February 1943). The Memo-
rial 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 bat
are inscribed on the walls. Both the
walls and the pylon are constructed
of Red Calca granite.

CABANATUAN MEMORIAL is lo-
cated 85 miles north of Manila, approxi-
mately 5 miles south of the city of
Cabanatuan, Luzon, Republic of the
Philippines. It marks the site of the

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

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. Te 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 Ameri-
cans who lost their lives while being
held captive.

Co-located on the site are the West
Point Monument, which pays hom-
age to the 170 American and 6 Fili-
pino 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 Cor-
regidor (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 fen and
English. It was officially turned over
to the American government for
operation and maintenance in per-
petuity 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
(Manche), France. This monument
commemorates the achivements of
the American Forces of the VII Corps
who fought in the liberation of the

25


30

HERE. RESTS IN HONORED GLORY

A COMRADE IN ARMS
KNOWN BUT TO GOD

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 59, Box 11

APO AE 09624

Telephone: (011-39) 06-4824-157
06-4890-3685 (from U.S.)
06-4824-154 (within Italy)

FAX: (011-39) 6487-1624

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