The Largest American Military Cemeteries Overseas

ABMC: “The Lafayette Escadrille Memorial Cemetery commemorates the birth of American combat aviation and serves as a symbol of Franco-American comradeship during World War I. This site honors the American volunteer pilots who flew with French squadrons during the Great War and is the final resting place for 48 of America’s first combat aviators, one Canadian aviator and two French officers.”

ABMC: “At this site rest 368 American war dead, most of whom gave their lives in liberating Belgium in World War I. Most of the dead are from four United States infantry divisions which operated in the regions. The 37th and 91st Divisions operated in the vicinity of the cemetery and the 27th and 30th Divisions served south of Ieper (Ypres).”

ABMC: “This cemetery contains the graves of 468 American war dead who died throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland during World War I. Close by are military cemeteries and monuments of the British Commonwealth and other Allied nations.”

ABMC: “To the honored memory of 750 Americans known but to God whose bones collected by their country’s order are here buried.”

ABMC: “This cemetery, located in the medieval town of Draguignan, is the final resting place for 858 American war dead, most of whom lost their lives in the liberation of southern France in August 1944. Their headstones are arranged in straight lines, divided into four plots, grouped about an oval pool.”

ABMC: “ABMC’s first cemetery, Suresnes, holds 1,541 Americans who died in World War I, together with 24 unknown dead of World War II. Bronze tablets on the walls of the chapel record the names of 974 missing in action, or lost or buried at sea in 1917 and 1918. Originally a World War I cemetery, Suresnes now shelters the remains of United States dead of both wars.”

ABMC: “This cemetery contains the graves of 1,844 Americans, most of whom lost their lives while serving in American units attached to British Armies, or in the operations near Cantigny. The headstones, set in rows, are separated into four plots by paths, which intersect at the flagpole near the top of the slope.”

ABMC: “This cemetery contains the graves of 2,289 war dead of the American Expeditionary Forces, most of whom fought in the vicinity and in the Marne valley in the spring and summer of 1918. From the hillside rises the memorial chapel decorated with sculptured and stained-glass details of wartime personnel, equipment and insignia.”

ABMC: “The cemetery is located in close proximity to the site of the ancient city of Carthage in the modern nation of Tunisia. At this ancient and hallowed site rest 2,841 American war dead, most of whom lost their lives in military actions ranging from North Africa to the Persian Gulf.”

ABMC: “This cemetery contains the remains of 3,811 American war dead; on the Tablets of the Missing are recorded the names of 5,127 who are listed as missing in action, lost at sea or buried at sea. Most of the individuals interred or memorialized at the cemetery died in the Battle of the Atlantic, the strategic air bombardment of northwest Europe, in training areas of the United Kingdom, and in the invasion of occupied Europe.”

ABMC: “The cemetery contains the graves of 4,153 American servicemen, the majority of whom died in the offensive to reduce the St. Mihiel salient, the first major offensive by an independent American Army in World War I. This offensive, launched in September 1918, took back in four days ground that had been held by the German Army for almost four years.”

ABMC: “At this cemetery lie 4,393 American war dead, arrayed in symmetrical curved rows upon the hillside. On the topmost of three broad terraces stands the memorial, marked by a tall column surmounted by a large sculptured figure entitled “The Spirit of Peace.””

ABMC: “This cemetery contains 4,405 American war dead. The greater number of those lost their lives during the German counterattack at Mortain in early July 1944. Others fell on the field of battle up to the liberation of Paris, August 25, 1944. The cemetery is named in honor of the battle to secure the Brittany peninsula and its ports.”

ABMC: “In this cemetery are buried 5,073 American war dead, many of whom lost their lives in the Battle of the Bulge and in the advance to the Rhine River. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., is buried here along with two Medal of Honor recipients, one woman, and 22 sets of brothers buried side-by-side.”

ABMC: “This cemetery is unique among all ABMC cemeteries as it served as the central identification point for unknown remains for the entire European Theater of Operations from the last days of the war until 1960. The Ardennes American Cemetery is the final resting place for 5,247 Americans, with 65 percent of those being airmen of the United States Army Air Forces.”

ABMC: “The cemetery sits on a plateau 100 feet above the Moselle River, in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains. It contains the graves of 5,251 Americans, most of whom lost their lives in the campaigns across northeastern France to the Rhine and beyond into Germany. The memorial consists of a chapel, portico, and museum room with a mosaic operations map.”

ABMC: “This memorial has been erected by the United States of America in humble tribute to all interred here who served in its Armed Forces or contributed to the construction, operation and maintenance of the Panama Canal”

ABMC: “At this cemetery rest 6,012 U.S. war dead, most of whom lost their lives while fighting in this vicinity during 1918. Their headstones, aligned in long rows, rise in a gentle slope from the entrance to the memorial at the far end. The burial area is divided into four plots by wide paths lined by trees and beds of roses; at the intersection is a circular plaza and the flagpole.”

ABMC: “Directly ahead of the entrance is a flowering lily pond with a small island of Italian cypress trees in the middle. Beyond the pond is a gentle rising slope that encompasses 7,858 burials arranged in arcs beneath rows of Roman pines. A wide central mall leads to the memorial, which is rich in works of symbolic art and architecture. On the white marble walls of the chapel are 3,095 names listed as missing in action, lost at sea, or buried at sea.”

ABMC: “The Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery contains burials from all major battles in Northern Europe from September 1944 through March 1945, including the Battle of the Bulge. The cemetery is the final resting place for 7,987 American war dead. An overlook west of the highway offers an excellent view of the rolling Belgian countryside that was once a battlefield.”

ABMC: “Here, in the only American military cemetery in the Netherlands, lie 8,291 American war dead. Most died late in 1944 and in 1945, in the airborne and ground operations in eastern Netherlands, during the advances into Germany over the Roer River, across the Rhine River, and in air operations over these regions. These war dead came from every state in the union and the District of Columbia and include 41 sets of brothers.”

ABMC: “While sources differ as to the earliest burial, interments date at least to the Philippine American War (1899-1902). During that conflict and after, the United States operated a series of military installations in the Philippines with military post cemeteries.”

ABMC: “This cemetery, ABMC’s most heavily visited, sits on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel and contains the graves of 9,382 American war dead, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and subsequent hedgerow fighting. On the walls of the semicircular garden on the east side of the memorial are inscribed the names of 1,557 listed as missing in action, lost, or buried at sea.”

ABMC: “This cemetery is the largest World War II cemetery in Europe, with 10,482 American war dead. Most of them lost their lives during the Moselle and Rhine river crossings in liberating the Lorraine region, and campaigns across Germany and into Czechoslovakia. There are five Medal of Honor recipients, 11 women, and 30 sets of brothers buried side-by-side.”

ABMC: “Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery contains the largest number of American war dead in Europe, a total of 14,246. Most of those buried here lost their lives during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in 1918, America’s largest of World War I. The immense array of headstones rise in long rows upward beyond a wide central pool to the chapel that crowns the ridge.”

ABMC: “This cemetery is the largest of all ABMC cemeteries with a total of 17,058 war dead interred, most of whom lost their lives in the operations in New Guinea and the Philippines. The headstones are aligned in 11 plots forming a generally circular pattern, set among masses of a wide variety of tropical trees and shrubbery.”