Evening star., 1935-12-22
u. S. Memorials
in Europe
BY Frederic ]. Haskin.


European graves. There have been many
proposals to bring their bodies back to
the United States. Many thousands have
already been returned, but those who
still sleep abroad are not forgotten. This
is attested by the erection by the Ameri-
can Congress Of a series of splendid me-
MORALS. American military cemeteries
are maintained with reverent care, the
crosses carefully marked so that visitors
may identify the soldiers lying beneath
them. These are sufficiently impressive,
these acres of white crosses on the green,
but the buildings are, perhaps. more SO.
After the American Civil War the land
was covered with an outbreak of all man
ner of war memorials. The period was
one of the lowest recorded taste in archi-
lecture. The result inevitably was a
series of monstrosities which still stand
to offend the eye, however much they
may stir memories on behalf Of the fallen.
The Americans who fell in the World
War overseas have Jared better. The
National Commission of Fine Arts has
passed on the many designs submitted
for the memorials, as they have been
proposed and provided for, with the re-
suit that some of the finest examples Of
architecture of recent times are to be
seen on the battlefelds Of France and
Flanders.
Soon after the armistice the American
Battle Monuments Commission was
created, with Gen. John J. Pershing as
its chairman and a distinguished list Of
members. Maj. K. Il. Price, as secretary,
is in active charge Of the work and DR..
Paul Cret has been named as architec-
tural adviser. The Fine Arts Commission
Was called upon by the Battle Monu-
ments Commission to furnish guidance
in the acceptance Of designs.
X
The monuments vary in impreSSiVeneSS
but not one departs from the canon Of
good architecture which the Fine Arts
Commission dictates. Among the more
impressive is that at Montfaucon. in the
Meuse region. A gOodly proportion Of
the soldiers who saw service overseas will
thrill at the very name of Montfaucon,
for in this sector occurred probably the
most epochal fighting of the war in
which Americans participated. 1t was
around this mount of the falcon that
ranged the tremendous offensive which
broke the back of the German line. The
surprise attack which Gen. Pershing or
ganized created a situation which Field
Marshal Won Hindenburg, in his memoirs,
declared was untenable. 1t was the be-
ginning of the end for Germany.
In the operations in this region some
100000 American troops were engaged.
Near where the Montfaucon memorial
is placed the American casualties were
Il7000 in killed and wounded. Fierce
fighting continued day and night. John
Russell Pope is the designer Of the memo
rial. 1t taxes the form Of a single coll
umn of the Grecian Doric order, l25 feet
high, and that is surmounted by a super
imposed dome and heroic figure. There
is a broad pedestal, from which wide
spreading steps lead down across sue
cessive terraces.
The Montsec monument, in the area
where some 100000 Americans were en-
gagged, is the work of Egerton Swart-
wout. It is a classic fame in the form Of
a circular colonnade. The edifce crowns
a knoll. for control OF which there was
intense fighting. The Is columns which
form the circle was AZ feet in height and
of the Grecian Doric order The diam
eter Of the circle is II feet.
Chateau Thierry holds a thousand
memories for American veterans of the
World War. Like so much OF France. the
region has been an intermittent battle
field down through the ages. There
Charles MarteI built fortress and castle,
the remains of which still stand. In the
Napoleonic wars the French met Blucher
there. the tide of battle swinging back
and forth between them, but the fiercest
fighting the little town ever saw doubtless
was when the Americans defended it in
the World War. About 100000 of them
were engaged. In peaceful intervals the
towns industries are the manufacture Of
such tranquil things as instruments Of
precision and musical instruments, but
the place is so situated that it has ever
been a strategic point. Paul Cret was
the architect of the memorial there. At
a quick glance it seems to resemble the
Lincoln Memorial in Washington, al
though not so large and lacking some Of
the latter's features. The columns are
So feet in height and the structure about
300 feet long. 1t stands on a stone ter
race 1000 feet in length.
Close by the military cemetery at
Suresnes. near the old French military
post of Fort Valerien, which overlooks
Paris. is a memorial chapel. designed by
Charles A. Platt. Less imposing than the
other memorials mentioned, it is far
more intimate. It's lines are gracious
and it resembles closely a great porticoed
mansion of Colonial times in America.
1t is at this chapel that the chief Memo
rial day exercises are held.
At Romagne, in the Meuse- -Argonne,
adjacent to the largest Of the American
military cemeteries in France. stands a
memorial chapel designed by York and
Sawyer 1t is a mortuary chapel and
contains the bodies of 5000 of American
dead Fittingly enough. the design fol-
lows the Romanesque pattern. There is
a central chapel with huge arched
| portal and wide-spreading wings ending
in chapel paviIions. The facades of the
wings are arcaded with Romanesque
arches.
On Flanders fields, near Waereghem,
in Belgium, is another memorial chapel.
the design of DR.. Paul Cret. 1t is severe
in form, a tall. classic pylon. Another
huge pylon stands at BreSt and is there
to commemorate the services of the men
of the United States Navy in and around
continental Europe during the World
War 1t is the work of Howard Shaw
and takes the form of plain stone pier,
rising high in the air, SurmOunted by a
figure.
At Belleau Wood, where some of the
sharpest fighting was experienced early
in the struggle. is a Gothic memorial
chapel designed by Cram and Ferguson.
Its tower, the chief feature, resembles