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The AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTSCOMMISSION was created by act ofCongress in March 1923 to erect andmaintain memorials in the UnitedStates and foreign countries wherethe United States Armed Forces haveserved since 6 April 1917, and to con-trol as to design and provide regula-tions for the erection of monuments,

markers and memorials in foreigncountries by other United States citi-zens and organizations, public orprivate. It was later given responsi-bility for establishing or taking overfrom the Armed Forces permanentburial grounds in foreign countriesand designing, constructing, operat-ing and maintaining permanent

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St. Mihiel American Cemetery, Thiaucourt, France

AMERICAN MEMORIALSand

OVERSEAS MILITARYCEMETERIES

cemetery memorials at these burialsites; controlling as to design andmaterials, providing regulations forand supervising erection of all mon-uments, memorials, buildings andother structures in permanentUnited States cemetery memorialson foreign soil; and controlling thedesign of U.S. private monuments

and cooperating with American citi-zens, states, municipalities, or asso-ciations desiring to erect war memo-rials outside the continental limits ofthe United States. It is not responsi-ble for construction, maintenance oroperation of cemeteries in the con-tinental United States or its terri-tories and possessions.

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After World War I, the AmericanBattle Monuments Commissionerected a memorial chapel in each ofthe eight military cemeteries over-seas already established by the WarDepartment, as well as twelve monuments and two bronze tabletson the battlefields and elsewhere, torecord the achievements of our

Armed Forces. In 1934, the WorldWar I overseas cemeteries weretransferred to the Commission by Ex-ecutive Order.

The names and locations of theseWorld War I cemetery memorials,the number of burials and the number of missing recorded at their memorials are:

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World War I monuments erectedby the Commission are located at ornear: Audenarde and Kemmel,Belgium; Bellicourt, Brest, Cantigny,Chateau-Thierry, Montfaucon,Montsec, Sommepy, and Tours,France; Gibraltar and Washington,DC. World War I tablets are atChaumont and Souilly, France.

By the end of World War II, severalhundred temporary cemeteries hadbeen established by the AmericanGraves Registration Service of theUnited States Army. During theyears 1947 to 1954 that Service, com-plying with the expressed wishes ofthe next of kin, and by authority oflaw, repatriated the remains of some172,000 recovered bodies. The re-mainder were given final intermentin the permanent military cemeterieson foreign soil, in private cemeteriesoverseas and in the national cemeter-ies in Honolulu, Sitka, Alaska and

Puerto Rico (which are now admin-istered by the National CemeteryAdministration, Department ofVeterans’ Affairs). As was the caseafter World War I, some remainswere left in isolated graves outside of the cemeteries by request of thefamilies who then became responsi-ble for their maintenance.

Fourteen sites in foreign countrieswere selected as permanent ceme-teries in 1947 by the Secretary of theArmy and the American BattleMonuments Commission in con-cert. Their locations reflect the prog-ress of the military operations andwere selected with consideration oftheir accessibility, aspect, prospect,drainage and other practical factors.The World War II cemeteries withnumber of burials, including Un-knowns, and the numbers of Miss-ing recorded at their memorials andat three separate memorials onUnited States soil are:

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Burials MissingWorld War I Known Unknown Commemorated

Aisne-Marne, Belleau, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,039 250 1,060Brookwood, England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427 41 563Flanders Field, Waregem, Belgium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347 21 43Meuse-Argonne, Romagne, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,760 486 954Oise-Aisne, Fere-en-Tardenois, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,415 597 241St. Mihiel, Thiaucourt, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,036 117 284Somme, Bony, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,706 138 333Suresnes (See WW II also), France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,535 6 974

Totals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,265 1,656 4,452

Burials MissingWorld War II Known Unknown Commemorated

Ardennes, Neupre (Neuville-en-Condroz), Belgium . . 4,537 788 462Brittany, St. James, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,313 97 498Cambridge, England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,788 24 5,127Epinal, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,186 69 424Florence, Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,189 213 1,409Henri-Chapelle, Belgium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,898 94 450Lorraine, St. Avold, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,338 151 444Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg . . . . . . . 4,975 101 371Manila, Republic of the Philippines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,462 3,740 36,282Netherlands, Margraten, Holland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,195 106 1,722Normandy, St. Laurent-sur-Mer, France . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,080 307 1,557North Africa, Carthage, Tunisia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,601 240 3,724Rhone, Draguignan, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799 62 294Sicily-Rome, Nettuno, Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,371 490 3,095Suresnes (See WW I also), France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . — 24 —

Use of the permanent cemeterysites on foreign soil was granted inperpetuity by the host governmentto the United States free of cost, rentand taxation. The temporary ceme-tery sites not selected as permanentcemeteries reverted to the land-owners.

In 1947, an outstanding Americanarchitect was selected to design eachof the World War II cemeteries, con-ceiving its grave plots, a chapel andbattle map exhibit as complementaryelements of an integral memorial tothe services and sacrifices of theAmerican Armed Services whofought in the particular region. Uponapproval of their general schemes bythe Commission and by agreementwith the Secretary of the Army, thearchitects’ plans of the grave plotswere followed by the AmericanGraves Registration Service in mak-ing the permanent burials of thoseremains which by decision of thenext of kin were to be interred over-seas. The timely cooperation be-tween these two agencies contrib-uted appreciably to the coherence ofthe development of the cemetery designs.

Beginning in the latter half of 1949,the permanent interments havingbeen virtually completed, the WorldWar II overseas cemeteries were pro-gressively transferred for con-struction and maintenance to theAmerican Battle Monuments Com-mission by Presidential Executive

Order. Thereupon, the remainingportions of the architects’ designswere carried out, step by step —grading; installation of a system ofreinforced concrete beams on piles tomaintain the levels and alignmentsof the headstones; fabrication andinstallation 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 wereimposed upon the architects otherthan budgeted cost and a require-ment that each was to embody thesefeatures:

A small devotional chapel;inscription of the names and

particulars of the Missing in the region;

a graphic record, in permanentform, of the services of our troops(WW II only; however, Oise-Aisne,Meuse-Argonne and St. MihielWW I American Cemeteries alsohave battle maps).

These requirements have been in-terpreted in a wide and interestingvariety 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 theachievements of our Armed Ser-vices, since the erection of memo-rials by the troops (which in the past

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East Coast Memorial, New York City, New York . . . . . — — 4,609Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . — — 18,096West Coast Memorial, San Francisco, California . . . . . — — 412

Totals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86,732 6,506 78,976World War II cemeteries maintained by the National Cemetery Administration,

Department of Veterans’ AffairsNational Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific . . . . . . . . . (See

Honolulu, Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,597 2,079 HonoluluMemorial)

Puerto Rico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 — —Sitka, Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 5 —

Other Missing in Action Commemorated by ABMCKorean War, Honolulu Memorial,

Honolulu, Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . — — 8,200Vietnam War, Honolulu Memorial,

Honolulu, Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . — — 2,504

unfortunately had all too often beenfound to be poorly designed, poorlyconstructed and lacking provisionfor maintenance) was expressly for-bidden by the military services. Thepermanent graphic record takes theform of military maps, usually largemurals, amplified by descriptivetexts in English as well as in the lan-guage of the country in which thecemetery is located. The historicaldata for these maps were preparedby the American Battle MonumentsCommission. The maps themselveswere rendered by experienced art-ists in tasteful presentation usingvarious media: layered marbles,fresco, bronze relief, mosaic con-crete or ceramics. Another feature ofinterest at each memorial is the twosets of “key-maps”: “The WarAgainst Germany” and “The WarAgainst Japan.” Each set consists ofthree maps, each covering aboutone-third of the period of our par-ticipation in the war. By these key-

maps any major battle may be re-lated to the others in time and space.

With each architect, an Americanlandscape architect, an Americansculptor and an American muralistor 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 ofthose 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 ofthe works of art, were performed bylocal contractors and artists under thesupervision of the Commission.

At each cemetery there is a visitors’building or room, with comfortablefurnishings. Here visitors may learnthe grave locations (or inscriptions ofthe Missing) at any of the overseascemeteries.

Each grave in the overseas ceme-teries is marked by a headstone ofwhite marble — a Star of David for

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Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Cambridge, England

those of Jewish faith, a Latin cross for others. Each headstone bears thedeceased’s name, rank, service, or-ganization, date of death and state or territory from which he enteredthe military service.

In the World War I cemeteries,headstones of the Unknowns, i.e.,those remains which could not beidentified, bear the inscription:HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY ANAMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TOGOD.

In the World War II cemeteries, theinscription reads:HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY A COM-RADE IN ARMS KNOWN BUT TO GOD.

Tablets of the Missing (which alsoinclude the names of those whoseremains could not be identified andthose 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.

With the exception of January 1and December 25, these cemeteriesare open every day of the year.Photography is permitted withoutspecial authorization, except when itis to be used for commercial pur-poses — in such cases, permissionmust be obtained from theCommission.

Unlike National cemeteries underjurisdiction of the Department of Vet-erans’ Affairs, there can be no fur-ther burials in the American militarycemeteries overseas except of thoseremains which may, in the future, befound on the battlefields. Essentially,these graves with their memorialsconstitute inviolable shrines.

In addition to the eight World War Icemeteries, the fourteen World War IIcemeteries, eleven World War I monuments and two tablets, and the two World War II markers (Casa-blanca, Morocco and Papua, NewGuinea), the American Battle Monu-ments Commission’s program of

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Brittany American Cemetery, St. James, Manche, France

commemoration includes the follow-ing:

SURESNESAt the Suresnes Cemetery Memorial,senior representatives of the Frenchand United States governments payhomage to our military Dead on ceremonial occasions. Accordingly, 24Unknown Dead of World War II wereburied in this World War I cemetery,and two loggias were added to itschapel by the Commission, therebyconverting it into a shrine commemo-rating our Dead of both wars.

EAST COAST MEMORIALTo commemorate those 4,609 Ameri-can servicemen, 6,185 seamen of theUnited States Merchant Marines andthe 529 seamen of the U.S. ArmyTransport Service who, in or abovethe waters off the coast of North andSouth America, but outside the terri-torial limits of the United States, gavetheir 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 MEMORIALSimilarly, the names and particularsof those 412 Americans who gavetheir lives in the service of their coun-try off the west coast of the Americasbut 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 MEMORIALAlthough the National MemorialCemetery of the Pacific at Honoluluis administered by the Departmentof Veterans’ Affairs, the AmericanBattle Monuments Commission con-structed a memorial therein, incor-porating the features of the memo-rials in its overseas cemeteries. Thenames of 18,096 Missing of WorldWar II who gave their lives in the

Pacific areas (except the Southwestand the Palua Islands which arecommemorated at the Manila Ceme-tery Memorial) are recorded here aswell as 8,200 Missing of the KoreanWar and 2,504 Missing from theVietnam War.

SAIPAN MONUMENT is situatednear the beach overlooking TanapagHarbor on the Island of Saipan,Commonwealth of the NorthernMariana Islands. It is part of anAmerican memorial park commem-orating the American and MarianasDead in the Marianas Campaign ofWorld War II. The monument honorsspecifically the 24,000 Americanmarines and soldiers who died re-capturing the volcanic islands of Sai-pan, Tinian and Guam during theperiod of 15 June 1944–11 August1944.

It is a twelve-foot rectangular obe-lisk of rose granite in a landscapedarea of local flora. Inscribed upon themonument are these words: “THISMEMORIAL HAS BEEN ERECTED BY THEUNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN HUMBLETRIBUTE TO THE SONS WHO PAID THEULTIMATE SACRIFICE FOR LIBERATIONOF THE MARIANAS 1941–1945.”

The GUADALCANAL AMERI-CAN MEMORIAL is located onSkyline Drive overlooking the townof Honiara, Guadalcanal, SolomonIslands. It honors those Americanand Allied servicemen who lost theirlives during the Guadalcanal Cam-paign of World War II (7 August1942–9 February 1943). The Memo-rial consists of a suitably inscribedcentral pylon four feet square rising24 feet above its base. Four radiatingdirectional walls point toward majorbattle sites. Descriptions of the battlesare inscribed on the walls. Both thewalls and the pylon are constructedof Red Calca granite.

CABANATUAN MEMORIAL is lo-cated 85 miles north of Manila, approxi-

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mately 5 miles south of the city ofCabanatuan, Luzon, Republic of thePhilippines. It marks the site of theJapanese Cabanatuan Prisoner of WarCamp where approximately 20,000American servicemen and civilianswere held captive from 1942 to 1945,after the fall of the Philippine Islandsduring World War II. The memorialalso honors the heroic sacrifices madeby Filipino servicemen and civiliansin a mutual quest for honor, freedomand peace.

The memorial consists of a 90-footconcrete base in the center of whichrests a marble altar. It is surroundedon three sides by a fence of steel rodsand on the fourth by a Wall of Honorupon which are inscribed the namesof the approximately 3,000 Ameri-cans who lost their lives while beingheld captive.

Co-located on the site are the WestPoint Monument, which pays hom-age to the 170 American and 6 Fili-pino graduates of the U.S. MilitaryAcademy who lost their lives duringthe defense of the Philippines orwhile prisoner of war at Cabanatuanand the Defenders of Bataan and Cor-

regidor (a Filipino veterans organiza-tion) memorial which salutes theirAmerican fallen comrades.

POINTE DU HOC MONUMENTFollowing World War II, the Frencherected a monument at Pointe du Hoc on the right flank of OmahaBeach, overlooking the EnglishChannel honoring the elements of the 2nd Ranger Battalion under thecommand of LTC James Rudder whoscaled the cliff, seized the position,and defended it against Germancounterattacks at a high cost of lives.The monument consists of a simplepylon on top of a concrete bunker atthe edge of the cliff and appropriateinscriptions at its base in French andEnglish. It was officially turned overto the American government for operation and maintenance in per-petuity on 11 January 1979.

UTAH BEACH MONUMENTThe Utah Beach Monument is locatedat the termination of Highway N-13D, approximately 3 kilometersnortheast of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont

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

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(Manche), France. This monumentcommemorates the achivements ofthe American Forces of the VII Corpswho fought in the liberation of theCotentin Peninsula from 6 June to 1July 1944. It consists of a red graniteobelisk surrounded by a small, de-veloped park overlooking the his-toric sand dunes of Utah Beach, oneof the two American landing beachesduring the Normandy Invasion of 6June 1944.

Three memorials in Washington,

DC were also established by theCommission, but are now ad-ministered by the National ParkService.The AMERICAN EXPEDITION-ARY FORCES MEMORIAL, lo-cated on Penn. Ave. between 14thand 15th Streets, NW in Wash. DC,commemorates the two millionAmerican military personnel andtheir CinC, Gen. John J. Pershing,who made up the AEF of WWI.

It consists of a stone plaza 52 ft. by

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75 ft., an 8 ft. statue of Gen. Pershingon a stone pedestal, a stone benchfacing the statue and two 10 ft. highwalls, one along the south side of thememorial area and one along theeast. The south wall contains twobattle maps with appropriate inscrip-tions. Inscribed upon the reverse faceof the east wall is Gen. Pershing’stribute to the officers and men of theAEF: “IN THEIR DEVOTION, THEIRVALOR, AND IN THE LOYAL FULFILL-MENT OF THEIR OBLIGATIONS, THE OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES HAVE LEFT AHERITAGE OF WHICH THOSE WHO FOL-LOW MAY EVER BE PROUD.”

The WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL,prominently located on theNational Mall in Washington,DC between the LincolnMemorial and the WashingtonMonument, honors a nationunited in a just and commoncause.

It is the first memorial dedi-cated to the more than 400,000Americans who gave their livesfor freedom, the 16 million whoserved in uniform, and all whocontributed to the war effort onthe home front.

Symbolic of the defining eventof the 20th century, the memorialis a testiment to the spirit, sacri-fice and commitment of theAmerican people.

To learn more, visit our web-site at www.abmc.gov

KOREAN WARVETERANS MEMORIALThe Korean War Veterans Memorial,located on the National Mall inWashington, DC, was dedicated on27 July 1995. The Memorial com-memorates the sacrifices of the 5.8million Americans who served dur-ing the three-year period of the

Korean War. The war was one of themost hard fought in our history.During its relatively short duration,25 June 1950–27 July 1953, 33,700 Americans were killed in action;8,200 of those killed in action wereclassified as missing in action (andpresumed dead), or lost or buried atsea. An additional 103,000 Ameri-cans were wounded during the con-flict. An integral part of theMemorial is the Korean War HonorRoll, an interactive automated data-base, containing the names of thoseU.S. military personnel who diedworld-wide during the war.

MEXICO CITYNATIONAL CEMETERYThe Mexico City National Cemeteryis at 31 Virginia Fabregas, ColoniaSan Rafael, about 2 miles west of theMetropolitan Cathedral and aboutone mile north of the U.S. Embassy.This cemetery was established in1851 and contains a small monumentover the grave of 750 of our unidenti-fied Dead of the War of 1847. In thisone acre area there are 813 remains ofAmericans and others in wall crypts.Care of the cemetery was transferredfrom the Department of the Army tothis Commission on 16 July 1947.This cemetery was closed to burialsin 1923.

COROZAL AMERICANCEMETERY, COROZAL,REPUBLIC OF PANAMAThe Corozal American Cemetery islocated approximately three milesnorth of Panama City, just offAvenue Omar Torrijos Herrera be-tween the Panama Canal RailwayCompany Train Station and CiudadDel Saber (formerly Fort Clayton).To reach the cemetery, turn right onCalle Rufina Alfaro at the CrossroadBible Church and pro-ceed aboutone-half mile to the ceme-tery. Taxiand bus service to the cem-etery areavailable from Panama City. There

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are 5,336 Dead interred here. Inagreement with the Republic ofPanama, care and maintenance ofthe cemetery in perpetuity was as-sumed by the Commission on 1October 1979.

SERVICES TO THE PUBLICUpon request, and without cost, thefollowing information and servicesare provided to family members and friends of those interred or com-memorated at ABMC’s cemeteriesand memorials:• name, location and general infor-

mation about the cemetery, monu-ment or memorial;

• plot, row and grave number and, ifapplicable, memorialization site;

• authorization for issuance of fee-

free passports for members of theimmediate family traveling over-seas specifically to visit an ABMCgrave or memorialization site;

• a photograph of grave and/ormemorialization sites affixed to alarge color lithograph of the ap-propriate cemetery and memorial;

• best route and modes of travel in-country to cemetery or memorialsite;

• general information about accom-modations in the vicinity of thecemetery or memorial;

• arrangement for floral decorationof a grave or memorialization site. (Weather permitting, a colorphotograph of the floral decora-tion in place is provided to thedonor).

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Corozal American Cemetery, Corozal, Republic of Panama

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Decorated Gravesite of a World War II “Unknown”

THE AMERICAN

BATTLE MONUMENTS

COMMISSIONESTABLISHED BY CONGRESS MARCH 1923

UUNNIITTEEDD SSTTAATTEESS OOFFFFIICCEEAmerican Battle Monuments Commission

Court House Plaza IISuite 500

2300 Clarendon BoulevardArlington, VA 22201

Telephone: (703) 696-6897(703) 696-6896

FAX: (703) 696-6666

EEUURROOPPEEAANN OOFFFFIICCEEStreet Address:

68, rue du 19 Janvier92380 - Garches, France

Mailing Address:American Battle Monuments Commission

American Embassy - ParisPSC 116

APO AE 09777Telephone: (011-33) 1-4701-1976 (from U.S.

and other countries)33-0-1-4701-1976 (within France)

FAX: (011-33)1-4741-1979

MMEEDDIITTEERRRRAANNEEAANN OOFFFFIICCEEStreet Address:Via V. Veneto, 119/A00187 Rome, ItalyMailing Address:American Battle Monuments CommissionAmerican EmbassyPSC 833, Box 11FPO AE 09624-0011Telephone: (011-39) 06-4824-157

06-4890-3685 (from U.S.)06-4824-154 (within Italy)

FAX: (011-39) 6-487-1624

PPHHIILLIIPPPPIINNEE OOFFFFIICCEEStreet Address:Manila American Cemetery and MemorialMcKinley Road, Global CityTaguig, PhilippinesMailing Address:Manila American CemeteryPSC 513, Box 5FPO AP 96515-1800Telephone: (011-632) 844-0212 (from U.S.)

844-0212 (from Metro-Manila)FAX: (011-632) 812-4717

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Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial, Seine, France

2008