Argonne Cross Memorial The Argonne Cross Memorial is a memorial to American military personnel who died fighting in France during World War I . It was erected on November 13 , 1923 , and stands in Section 18 of Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County , Virginia , in the United States . About the memorial . American dead at Arlington and the Women ' s Legion . United States armed forces numbered about 2 . 8 million during World War I , although only about 126 , 000 Americans died in the conflict . Many of the dead died in the United States of disease , ar at ships at sea , and just 79 , 531 were buried in Europe . France , wishing to return to normal as quickly as possible , did not wish to see mass disinterments . But France relented , and some 20 , 000 American remains were returned to the United States . After the repatriation of American remains from other European countries , 30 , 799 American graves remained . Of the repatriated American remains 12 . 5 percent ( or 5 , 241 ) were interred at Arlington National Cemetery . Most of these were buried in the southwest corner of the cemetery in Sections 17 , 18 and 19 . On October 25 , 1919 , Mary S . Lockwood co - founded the American Women ' s Legion in Washington , D . C . , to assist veterans and their families and to engage in patriotic work . The organization swiftly grew into a national one . Lockwood had helped found the Daughters of the American Revolution several decades earlier , and she patterned the Women ' s Legion on the DAR . Membership in the Legion was open to any women who was a mother , wife , daughter , sister , or official next - of - kin of a veteran who served in World War I . Building the memorial . Alice Hay Wadsworth , wife of the Senator James Wolcott Wadsworth , Jr . , was elected president of the American Women ' s Legion in May 1920 . Her two - year term began in 1921 , and one of her immediate concerns was the erection of a monument to American war dead . The exact genesis of the memorial is unclear . What is known is that the organization made five separate submissions for a memorial to the United States Commission of Fine Arts , which had review ( but not approval ) authority over the " design and aesthetics " of all monuments and memorials on federal land . It is not clear when the commission approved the memorial , except that it did so some time in 1921 prior to November . Interestingly , the Legion didn ' t yet have approval to erect any memorial . That did not come until November 17 , 1921 , when Secretary of War John Wingate Weeks designated a site in Section 18 . The memorial was built by the Argonne Unit of the American Women ' s Legion , a chapter dedicated to helping the more than 117 , 000 families whose loved ones were killed or wounded during the Meuse - Argonne Offensive of September 26 to November 11 , 1918 . The $ 2 , 500 memorial ( $ in 2018 dollars ) was a plain Latin cross of white marble , to be dedicated to all those who died in the Great War . The chairman of the memorial committee was Miss Abbie B . McCammon , and the treasurer Miss N . R . Macomb . Mrs . William M . Black and Mrs . Alexander Rodgers were committee members . Dedication of the memorial was original set for Armistice Day ( November 11 ) in 1922 . but occurred a full year later . The dedication ceremony was a small one . Music for the event was provided by the 3d Cavalry Regiment Band . Episcopal Bishop Charles Brent , the former head chaplain of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I , spoke briefly . The 3d Cavalry provided a 21 - gun salute during the unveiling , and " Taps " was sounded at the ceremony ' s conclusion . First Lady Grace Coolidge , accompanied by Coolidge advisor Frank Stearns , represented President Calvin Coolidge at the event . About the memorial . The Argonne Cross Memorial is located in Section 18 of Arlington National cemetery near the western wall . The memorial consists of a tall Latin cross of white marble from Vermont . The image of an eagle with outspread wings clutches and standing in the middle of a wreath , was carved where the arms of the cross meet . The cross stands on a rectangular marble base about high . On the front of this based is carved the original inscription : IN MEMORY OF OUR MEN IN FRANCE < br > 1917 - 1918 On the rear of the base is the following inscription : ERECTED THROUGH THE EFFORTS OF THE < br > ARGONNE UNIT AMERICAN WOMEN ' S LEGION In accordance with a plan designed by the American Women ' s Legion and approved by the Commission of Fine Arts , the area around the memorial was landscaped . Nineteen pine trees , originally grown in the Forest of Argonne in France , were planted in an arc behind the memorial . Another element of the landscape design was a broad , grassy " tapis vert " between the headstones , leading to the memorial from Grant Avenue . Photographs from 1923 show that this " street of grass " was lined with deciduous trees . All the grading and landscaping work was performed by the War Department . Little of the original landscaping survives . All of the original French pines died , and as of 2011 had been replaced with an arc of seven small pines . None of the trees lining the " tapis vert " survived , either . In the 1980s , the Armenian Apostolic Church of America was given permission to plant a Southern Magnolia about to the east - southeast of the Argonne Cross . This " living memorial " has a bronze plaque mounted on a granite pedestal at its base . This small memorial is dedicated to Armenian Americans who fought in the Meuse - Argonne campaign , and was dedicated on April 28 , 1985 . Explicitly religious memorials on property owned by the federal government is controversial . No lawsuit demanding the Argonne Cross Memorial ' s removal has been filed against the federal government as of November 2013 . However , federal courts have mentioned the memorial in " dicta " . In January 2011 , the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit discussed the Argonne Cross as part of its ruling in " Jewish War Veterans v . City of San Diego " , 629 F . 3d 1099 , 1108 ( 9th Cir . 2011 ) . The court noted the existence of Argonne Cross at Arlington National Cemetery and similar crosses at Gettysburg National Military Park . Such crosses , overwhelmed by a nonsectarian environment , are unlikely to run afoul of the Constitution prohibition on establishment of religion . The Ninth Circuit observed : The Supreme Court of the United States declined to review the case on June 25 , 2012 .