Evening journal., 1921-05-10
i. 5. DEAD To
SLEEP ABROAD
Bodies of 10000 American
Heroes Will Not be
Removed
PREPARING FOR
MEMORIAL DAY
BY WEBB MILLER

Omitted Press Staff Correspondent.)
PARIS-CBy MaiD More than
thirty thousand bodies Of American
soldiers will lie forever in French
soil. Four bits Of French soil have
been chosen as the final resting
places for the bodies-four bits Of
France that "will remain forever
America" The permanent fields of
honor will be Romagne, Belleau,
Flanders Field near Bony, and
Suresnes on the outskirts of Paris.
A commission headed by Colonel
c. c. Pierce, had arrived from the
United States and approved the
choice of the four permanent ceme-
teries. The commission, which is
composed of w. NJ. Kendall, c. NJ.
Moore, James Greenleaf and Major
George Gibbs, architects and artists
are inspecting the sites with a view
to recommendations for beautifying
these fields to make them the most
beautiful burying places in Europe.
The Romange field will hold the
majority Of the bodies OF men killed
in the Argonne flghting-14,0O0 in
all: the Belleau field on the hillside
near Belleau Wood will contain 1000
bodies; Suresnes will hold 4,300, in
cluding many bodies of wounded who
died in Paris hospitals, while Fland-
ers Field will contain 2.100.
At present the American Graves
Registration Service is engaged in
disintering the bodies intended for
shipment badS to the United States.
Up to the present 14.646 bodies have
been disintered and shipped. Near
ly five thousand bodies are lying at
the ports awaiting transport By
October all the bodies requested for
shipment back home will have been
shipped. Then the Graves Registra-
tion Service will begin the task of
concentrating the remaining bodies
in the four permanent fields
This task will occupy nearly all of
next year. The size of the task
and incidentally an idea of the debt
of the allies to Americas more
vividly shown by a map in the Office
of Major c. l.. Sampson of the
Grave Registration Department
than could be told in words.
At every point where the body OF
an American soldier was buried was
stuck a red pin. The map which
comprises all OF France, Belgium
and Luxemburg is literally studded
with red pins-from the Pyrennes to
the Argonne, from the Apes Mari
times TO the English Channel-the
soil of France is sprinkled with
American dead. Altogether there
are $50 pins on the map-meaning
that at $50 different points there
were buried American soldiers
sometimes a lonely grave, sometimes
a dozen, sometimes hundreds. Many
Of the graves are hundreds OF miles
from the fighting lines. At thes,
places wounded soldiers died in hos.
! pitfalls or soldiers on leave died ano
were buried on the spot. The line
! Of American communications from
the ports 90 the lighting lines can be
traced across France by the row OF
red pins indicating burial places.
More than 400 Americans are en-
gagged in various parts of France and
Belgium in disintering the bodies for
shipment. BY October about As, 600
bodies will have been shipped. The
nearest Of kin of 1861 have speci-
hcally requested that the bodies re-
main In France The others for
which there is no specific request for
/ shipment home will remain also.
! When finally completed the per-
| manent cemeteries will resemble the
National Cemeteries in the United
States-long, precise rows of grassy