Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial is a United States military cemetery in Dinozé , France . The site rests on a plateau above the Moselle River in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains . It contains the graves of 5 , 255 of the United States ' military dead , most of whom lost their lives in the campaigns across northeastern France to the Rhine and beyond into Germany during World War II . History . The cemetery was established in October 1944 by the 46th Quartermaster Company ( Graves Registration Service ) of the U . S . Seventh Army as it drove northward from southern France through the Rhône Valley into Germany . The cemetery became the repository for the fatalities in the bitter fighting through the Heasbourg Gap during the winter of 1944 – 45 . On May 12 , 1958 , thirteen caskets draped with American flags were placed side by side at the memorial . Each casket contained the remains of one World War II Unknown American , one from each of the thirteen permanent American military cemeteries in the European Theater of Operations . In a solemn ceremony , General Edward J . O ' Neill , Commanding General of the U . S . Army Communication Zone , Europe , selected the Unknown to represent the European Theater . It was flown to Naples , Italy and placed with Unknowns from the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters of Operations aboard the USS " Blandy " for transportation to Washington , D . C . for final selection of the Unknown from World War II . On Memorial Day , 1958 , the remains were buried alongside the Unknown from World War I at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery . Memorial . The memorial , a rectangular structure with two large bas - relief panels , consists of a chapel , portico , and map room with a mosaic operations map constructed under the direction of the American artist Eugene Savage . On the walls of the Court of Honor , which surround the memorial , are inscribed the names of 424 of the missing . Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified . Stretching northward is a wide , tree - lined mall that separates the two large burial plots . At the northern end of the mall , the circular flagpole plaza forms an overlook affording a view of a wide sweep of the Moselle Valley . Accessibility . Epinal American Cemetery is located approximately 4 miles ( 7 km ) southeast of Épinal ( Vosges ) , France , on road D - 157 , in the village of Dinozé - Le Quéquement . It can be reached by automobile from Paris ( 231 miles ) in about 5 hours via toll autoroute A - 4 , eastward to the Nancy exit , then highway N - 57 or about 4 hours via toll autoroute A - 5 to Bulgnéville exit . Avoid the city of Epinal and exit only at Arches - Dinozé . Rail service is available from the Gare de l ' Est , Paris via Nancy , where it may be necessary to change trains . The journey by train requires about 3 hours by the French high - speed train ( TGV ) . Hotel accommodations and taxi service can be found in Epinal and vicinity . The cemetery is open daily to the public from 9 a . m . to 5 p . m . except December 25 and January 1 . It is open on host country holidays . When the cemetery is open to the public , a staff member is on duty in the Visitor Building to answer questions and escort relatives to grave and memorial sites .