Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial

49°04′46″N 03°17′29″E / 49.07944°N 3.29139°E / 49.07944; 3.29139
near Designed byCram & Ferguson of Boston, Ma. (Monument)
•Alfred Bottiau, Paris, France (Figures)Total burials2,289 plus 1,060 commemorated250Burials by nationBurials by warOfficial nameFunerary and memory sites of the First World War (Western Front)TypeCulturalCriteriai, ii, viDesignated2023 (45th session)Reference no.1567-AI01 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]

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

• US Navy Lt. (j.g.) Weedon E. Osborne (1892–1918 †), recipient of the Medal of Honor^[2]
• Major Allen Melancthon Sumner (1882-1918 †) USMC officer awarded the Croix de Guerre and Silver Star

Gallery

• 
  Entrance gate, 1923
• 
  U.S. Marines and French soldiers during the 93rd anniversary service of the Battle for Belleau Wood in 2011.
• 

See also

• World War I memorials

References

• 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

Cemeteries and Memorials

Belgium	Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial
France	Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial Lafayette Escadrille Cemetery and Memorial Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial Somme American Cemetery and Memorial St. Mihiel American Cemetery and Memorial Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial
Italy	Florence American Cemetery and Memorial Sicily–Rome American Cemetery and Memorial
Luxembourg	Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial
Mexico	Mexico City National Cemetery
Netherlands	Netherlands American Cemetery
Panama	Corozal American Cemetery and Memorial
Philippines	Clark Veterans Cemetery Manila American Cemetery
Tunisia	North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial
United Kingdom	Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial

Related organizationsPeople

General	David Urban
Principal Architects	Perry Dean Rogers Architects Paul Philippe Cret
Landscaping	Olmsted Brothers