Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial

Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial
Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial
American Battle Monuments Commission
	Lorraine American Military Cemetery, Memorial Day 2010, ceremonial wreaths
	Used for those deceased 1944–1945
Established	September 1944 (Completed 1960)
Location	49°7′19″N 6°43′3″E / 49.12194°N 6.71750°ECoordinates: 49°7′19″N 6°43′3″E / 49.12194°N 6.71750°E; near Saint-Avold, Moselle, France
Designed by	Murphy & Locraft, Washington, D.C. (Monument); Allyn R. Jennings of Oley, Pennsylvania (Landscaping)
Total burials	10,489
Commemorated	444
Burials by nation
	United States
Burials by war
	World War II
	Statistics source: ABMC website

Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial is a Second World War American military war grave cemetery, located just outside Saint-Avold, Moselle, France. The cemetery, containing 10,489 American war dead (the second largest number of American burials in Europe, after the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery of World War I dead, with 14,246), covers 113.5 acres (45.9 ha), was dedicated in 1960. It is administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission.^[1]

History[]

During and shortly after the war over 16,000 American casualties were interred across the Saint Avold region in France. Those interred at the Lorraine American Cemetery died mostly in the autumn of 1944 during the Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine as the Americans sought to expel the Germans from fortress city of Metz and advance on the Siegfried Line during the latter stages of World War II. They were mainly part of the U.S. Third and Seventh Armies.

In the late 1940s many bodies from the Saint Avold region were repatriated to the US or concentrated at Lorraine.

Layout[]

The cemetery's headstones are arranged in nine plots forming an elliptical design ending with an overlook feature. A memorial has ceramic operations maps with narratives and service flags. Either side of the memorial are Tablets of the Missing commemorating 444 soldiers missing in action (rosettes mark those since recovered and identified).

Notable burials[]

Medal of Honor recipients
- Sergeant Salvador J. Lara (1920–1945 †), awarded the medal in 2014^[2]
- Sergeant Andrew Miller (1916–1944 †), awarded the medal in 1945
- Private Frederick C. Murphy (1918–1945 †), awarded the medal in 1946
- Sergeant Ruben Rivers (c. 1921–1944 †), awarded the medal in 1977
- Lieutenant David C. Waybur (1919–1945 †), awarded the medal in 1943 and killed in action 19 months later
Others
- Lieutenant Al Blozis (1919–1945 †), football player
- Lieutenant Willard Bowsky (1907–1944 †), animator
- Private Charley Havlat (1910–1945 †), last American to die before the German surrender on 7 May^[3]
- Major George Preddy (1919–1944 †), flying ace, buried next to his brother Lieutenant William Preddy (1924–1945 †)

Gallery[]

Facing southeast, toward the rear of the memorial
Lorraine American Military Cemetery, entrance sign
Lorraine American Military Cemetery, chapel
Lorraine American Military Cemetery, St-Avold, American and French flags

References[]

^ American Battle Monuments Commission. "Lorraine American Cemetery". abmc.gov. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
^ Santschi, Darrell R. (23 February 2014). "Riverside men to get top honor: Jesus S. Duran and Salvador J. Lara will be awarded the Medal of Honor". The Press-Enterprise.
^ "The Last American Killed in Action in Europe during World War II". abmc.gov. American Battle Monuments Commission. Retrieved 15 June 2018.