1. The American Cemetery at Aisne-Marne, France.
2289 of our military dead.
2. The American Cemetery at Ardennes, Belgium.
5329 of our military dead.
3. The American Cemetery at Brittany, France.
4410 of our military dead.
4. Brookwood, England American Cemetery.
468 of our military dead.
5. Cambridge, England.
3812 of our military dead.
6. Epinal, France American Cemetery.
5525 of our military dead.
7. Flanders Field, Belgium.
368 of our military dead.
8. Florence, Italy.
4402 of our military dead.
9. Henri-Chapelle, Belgium.
7992 of our military dead.
10. Lorraine, France.
10,489 of our military dead.
11. Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
5076 of our military dead.
12. Meuse-Argonne.
14,246 of our military dead.
13. Netherlands, Netherlands.
8301 of our military dead.
14. Normandy, France.
9387 of our military dead.
15. Oise-Aisne, France.
6012 of our military dead.
16. Rhone, France.
861 of our military dead.
17. Sicily, Italy.
7861 of our military dead.
18. Somme, France.
1844 of our military dead.
19. St. Mihiel, France.
4153 of our military dead.
20. Suresnes, France.
1541 of our military dead.
Use of the World War I and II sites as permanent burial grounds for U.S. military personnel was granted in perpetuity by the host countries concerned, free of charge and taxation. Burial in these cemeteries is limited to members of the U.S. armed forces who died overseas during both world wars. American civilian technicians, Red Cross workers and entertainers serving the military were treated as members of the armed forces as far as burial entitlement was concerned.
Each grave site in the permanent American World War I and II cemeteries on foreign soil is marked with a headstone of pristine white marble. The headstones of those of the Jewish faith are tapered marble shafts surmounted by a Star of David; stylized marble Latin crosses mark all others. Annotated on the headstones of World War I service-members who could not be identified are the words: "HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD." The words "AMERICAN SOLDIER" were replaced with the words "COMRADE IN ARMS" on the headstones of the World War II service members who could not be identified.
The Netherlands cemetery is the fifth largest U.S. military cemetery overseas and the third largest World War II military cemetery. More than 51,000 U.S. military personnel are buried in the four largest cemeteries-at Manila, Meuse-Argonne, Lorraine and Normandy.
* Manila cemetery. Located six miles southeast of the city of Manila, Republic of the Philippines, the 152-acre Manila cemetery contains the largest number of graves of U.S. military dead from World War II, a total of 17,206, most of whom gave their lives during operations in New Guinea and the Philippines. The names of another 32,282 are recorded as missing on rectangular piers, which make up the two large hemicycles located on a wide terrace in front of the cemetery's chapel. Twenty-five large concrete mosaic maps commemorate the achievements of the American armed forces in the Pacific, China, India and Burma.
* Meuse-Argonne cemetery. Located east of the village of Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, France, the Meuse-Argonne cemetery covers 130 1/2 acres and contains the largest number of U.S. military dead in Europe, a total of 14, 246. Most of those buried here gave their lives during the Meuse-Argonne offensive of World War I. The immense array of headstones rises in long regular rows upward beyond a wide central pool to the chapel, which crowns the ridge. On either side of the cemetery's chapel are memorial loggias containing the names of 954 missing, including those of the U.S. expedition to northern Russia in 1918 and 1919.
* Lorraine cemetery. Located 3/4 mile north of the French town of St. Avoid, the Lorraine cemetery covers 113 1/2 acres and contains the largest number of graves of our military dead from World War II in Europe, a total of 10,489. Most of those buried here lost their lives fighting in this region. Their headstones are arranged in nine plots in a generally elliptical design extending over the beautiful terrain of eastern Lorraine and culminating in a prominent overlook feature. The names of another 444 Americans are inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing. A large figure of St. Nabor, a martyred Roman soldier, overlooks the silent host.
* Normandy cemetery. Perhaps the best known and most widely visited of America's military cemeteries overseas, the Normandy cemetery is situated on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel, just east of the French town of St. Laurent-sur-Mer and northwest of Bayeux in Colleville-sur-Mer, 170 miles east of Paris. The cemetery covers 172 1/2 acres and contains the graves of 9,386 of our military dead, most of whom gave their lives battling their way off assault beaches on D-Day and breaking out of the beachhead. The names of 1,557 missing are inscribed on the walls of the semicircular garden on the east side of the cemetery.