American Military Cemeteries
WWII Cemeteries in Europe
If I were to ask you how many American military cemeteries there are in Europe, how many could you name? More than likely, Normandy would be the one to come to mind. It’s the cemetery that marks one of the greatest battles of WWII and the beginning of the eastern march towards Germany by the allied forces. It’s the one we hear about in school and it is often the center of war documentaries and movies. After all, we have all seen “Saving Private Ryan”. And rightly so, Normandy is a stunningly beautiful cemetery that sits high on a bluff, overlooking the English Channel. It was the first American cemetery in Europe during WWII.
What if I told you there were actually 22 American military Cemeteries in Europe, 8 from WWI and 14 from WWII. And in those cemeteries, there are over 104,000 burials and over 20,000 listed as missing in action.
The WWII numbers worldwide are staggering:
– The war lasted from 1939-1945
– American involvement was between 1941-1945
– 405,399 American deaths
– 92,958 overseas American burials
– 78,985 MIA/Lost or Buried at sea.
I only learned about these cemeteries while living in Europe with my family for a couple of years. My grandfather was a POW in WWII, was captured by the Germans while fighting in France in 1944-1945. It became a goal of mine to learn about WWII in hopes of visiting the area in France where he fought. It was then that I discovered these cemeteries and made it my mission to visit as many as possible. I am PROUD to say that I have been to ALL of the WWII cemeteries located in Europe. There are two other WWII cemeteries one located in Manilla and one in Northern Africa. I still hope to make it to Manilla one day, but sadly I will probably never make it to the one in Africa, due to it not being safe for Americans.
With the 75th anniversary of D-Day occurring in 2019, I want to highlight these cemeteries, letting as many people as possible know they exist. Over the next 12 months, I will select one of the WWII cemeteries each month, giving you the history of each, and more importantly, telling you about those who rest there, and the ultimate sacrifice they gave for our freedom. It is my hope that you will come back each month and not only learn a little about these cemeteries, but will honor those by taking some time to remember them.
These cemeteries are overseen by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) that was created by Congress in March 1923. Their purpose is to design, construct, operate and maintain the more than 26 permanent American military cemeteries and 30 federal memorials located in 17 countries. This list continues to grow. One of the newest memorials is the New Zealand Memorial. A WWII memorial located in Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington, New Zealand. The latest cemetery is the WWI Lafayette Escadrille Memorial Cemetery located near Paris. This cemetery was dedicated in 1928 but only fell under the ownership of the ABMC in January 2017.
Each cemetery is unique in its own way, but there is a common thread that runs through each one. Each contains a nonsectarian chapel, sculptures, battle maps from the region, visitor’s center and a graves area. Of course, each is dotted with white marble markers in perfectly aligned rows. Latin cross headstones mark the graves, except those of the Jewish faith, whose graves are marked with the Star of David. Every marker contains the name, rank, date of death, unit, and state of the soldier. The grounds are nothing short of pristine. They are immaculately kept in peaceful surroundings. Standing there among shade trees and rose bushes, there is such a feeling of peace. Those who sleep in these graves are truly at rest.
Following WWII, the US Army on Battlefields had created hundreds of temporary burial grounds around the world. Of those, 14 sites were selected to be permanent cemeteries and would be overseen by ABMC. This land was given to the US in perpetuity by the host country free of charge or taxation. This ground did not become US property, it remains in possession of the host country.
When the remains were recovered from the temporary grave sites, families of the fallen were given the choice of where they would like the remains to be interred. They could be permanently placed within the American military cemetery closest to where they fell or repatriated. Roughly, 61% of the remains were returned to the US, and 39% were buried in the overseas cemeteries. Several hundred families choose not to move the remains at all. Many of those lay within town cemeteries or even on private land. ABMC relies on the local citizens and family members to care for those graves.
Those listed as missing in action or lost/buried at sea along with the unknown are also remembered. Each cemetery contains “Walls of the Missing”, an area within the grounds where the names of those listed as missing in action are displayed. If at a later time the identity of an individual is discovered, a bronze rosette in placed next to the name. Those whose body was found but was not identified, are placed within the cemetery with the white Latin cross marker that states, “Here rests in honored glory a Comrade in Arms known but to God.” There are over 6,000 “unknown” graves within the ABMC WWII cemeteries. Those unknowns buried in WWI cemeteries markers read “Here rests in honored glory an American Soldier known but to God.”
Not only members of the US armed forces who died during the war are buried in the cemeteries. Others who are eligible include Red Cross workers, US civilians who were serving the US armed forces, and entertainers serving the military (Manila American Cemetery is the only exception).
It is my hope that you will join me each month and take a little time to discover these cemeteries. We should all know that they exist and be eternally grateful to those men and women who are laid to rest in cemeteries around the world and to those who were never recovered.
We will never forget
I would like to take a moment to thank ABMC for the work they do in preparing such beautiful places of rest for these fallen Americans. Mostly, I want to thank all of those who work on a daily basis to maintain the grounds of each cemetery. They work so hard to keep each of these cemeteries in pristine condition. They also welcome visitors and family members of the fallen. They assist with locating graves or just answering questions about the property. Words alone cannot describe the beauty of these places. It honestly takes your breath away as you stand and look over the sometimes countless rows of white markers.
Thank you to those of you who are onsite at the cemeteries for assisting me with the information I needed to talk about these cemeteries.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE
Credits: Most of the information contained within this post was gathered by myself as I traveled to the various cemeteries. Some details were obtained from the following:
2 Comments
Christy
I love this article! I’m so glad you posted it! My son loves WWII history. I will have to go back and read this article with him soon. I know that as soon as he sees it, he will be wanting to plan a trip to visit all these cemeteries. Thanks again!
admin
Hi Christy…Thanks so much for your comment. The American Cemetery post is part of a series that I will be doing throughout the year. Each month I will be highlighting a different American Cemetery in Europe giving a little about its history and some of the heroes that are buried there. I encourage you to follow along.
You and your son may also be interested to know that I will be a Guardian on an Honor Flight on Saturday, May 4th. Honor Flight is an organization that flies our veterans to Washington, DC for the day to visit the war memorials and Arlington Cemetery. As a guardian, I am assigned one of these veterans and I go along with him/her for the day. I hope to post live feeds on Facebook throughout the day so make sure you are following my Facebook account.
One last thing, I have something coming up over the next few months concerning the 75th anniversary of WWII. So be watching my social media for details.