Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial

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Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial
American Battle Monuments Commission
Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial.jpg
Tombstones and the memorial chapel
Used for those deceased 1918
Established1918
Location49°04′46″N 03°17′29″E / 49.07944°N 3.29139°E / 49.07944; 3.29139Coordinates: 49°04′46″N 03°17′29″E / 49.07944°N 3.29139°E / 49.07944; 3.29139
near 
Château-Thierry, France
Designed byCram & Ferguson of Boston, Ma. (Monument)
•Alfred Bottiau, Paris, France (Figures)
Total burials2,289 plus 1,060 commemorated
Unknowns
250
Burials by nation
United States
Burials by war
Statistics source: ABMC

The Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial is a 42-acre (17 ha) World War I cemetery in Belleau, Northern France. It is located at the foot of the hill where the Battle of Belleau Wood was fought, with many American fatalities. The cemetery also contains burials from the Battle of Château-Thierry, later that summer.

The site is maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission, and its dedication ceremony was held on Memorial Day, May 30, 1937. Among those buried there are Medal of Honor recipient Weedon Osborne.

The grounds include both the Château-Thierry American Monument and a monument to US Marines.

Cemetery[]

The cemetery itself is laid out in the form of the capital letter T, with the Memorial Chapel crowning the T-shape on a small hill to south, the cross-bars making up the two burial plots and the pathway leading into the cemetery making up the stem of the letter-shape.

Each of the two burial plots (Plot A and Plot B) contain 13 rows of headstones, which consist of either Stars of David or Latin crosses. There are 2,289 burials in the cemetery, 250 of which contain unknown remains.[1]

On 10 November 2018, amid ceremonies in Paris to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the war, a planned visit by President Donald Trump to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery was cancelled, reportedly due to helicopter transport being prevented by low cloud cover and a light steady rain.[2] Instead, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford visited Aisne-Marne American Cemetery.[2] On 3 September 2020, an article in The Atlantic reported that Trump had referred to soldiers buried at the cemetery as "suckers" for getting killed and that he decided not to visit the cemetery because the weather would mess up his hair.[3] The article was reportedly verified by unnamed senior administration officials and corroborated by Fox News correspondent Jennifer Griffin.[4] Trump and other officials denied the comments.[5]

Memorial Chapel[]

The Memorial Chapel is built over the site of front-line battle trenches dug in defense of Belleau Wood. When entering the Memorial Chapel, one can see on the wall to the right a small hole that was made by a passing German anti-tank gun. Looking above the inside entrance door, one will see the following inscription:

THE NAMES RECORDED ON THESE WALLS ARE THOSE OF AMERICAN SOLDIERS WHO FOUGHT IN THIS REGION AND WHO SLEEP IN UNKNOWN GRAVES.

The names of 1,060 soldiers missing in action are inscribed on the Chapel's walls.

Notable burials[]

Gallery[]

  • Entrance gate, 1923

  • U.S. Marines and French soldiers during the 93rd anniversary service of the Battle for Belleau Wood in 2011.

  • Cimetière américain du bois Belleau 4.jpg

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Cemetery booklet, ABMC
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Baker, Luke (10 November 2018). "Trump cancels WW1 memorial at U.S. cemetery in France due to rain". Reuters. Archived from the original on 11 November 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  3. ^ Goldberg, Jeffrey (3 September 2020). "Trump: Americans who died at war are losers and suckers". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 4 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  4. ^ Joyella, Mark (September 5, 2020). "Fox News' Jennifer Griffin: 'My Sources Are Unimpeachable'". Forbes.
  5. ^ Seddiq, Oma; Choi, David (4 September 2020). "Fox News reported Trump never said that dead US troops were 'suckers', but the network's national security correspondent said ex-officials confirmed he did". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020.[unreliable source?]
  6. ^ Walking in footsteps of WWI Marines
  • Sledge, Michael (2005). Soldier Dead: How We Recover, Identify, Bury, and Honor Our Military Fallen. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 204. ISBN 978-0231509374. OCLC 60527603.

External links[]

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document: "Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial, American Battle Monuments Commission".

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