American Battle Monuments Commission

American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC)

Agency overview
Formed	1923
Headquarters	2300 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 500 Arlington, Virginia 22201 Coordinates: 38°53′25″N 77°05′12″W / 38.89028°N 77.08667°W
Employees	395 (2014)
Annual budget	$63.2 million USD (2014)[1]
Agency executive	Merrill A. McPeak, Chairman
Website	abmc.gov

The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) is a small independent agency of the United States government that administers, operates, and maintains permanent U.S. military cemeteries, memorials and monuments both inside and outside the United States.^[2]

As of 2015, there are 25 sites under the care of the ABMC. There are 124,905 U.S. servicemen and servicewomen interred at these sites, and more than 94,000 missing in action, or lost or buried at sea, whose names are individually carved into monuments. The ABMC also maintains an online database of names associated with each site.^[3]

History

The ABMC was established by the United States Congress in 1923. Its purpose is to:^[2]

• Commemorate the services of the U.S. armed forces where they have served since April 6, 1917;
• Establish suitable War memorials; designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining permanent U.S. military burial grounds in foreign countries;
• Control the design and construction of U.S. military monuments and markers in foreign countries by other U.S. citizens and organizations, both public and private;
• Encourage the maintenance of such monuments and markers by their sponsors.

The United States Department of War established eight European burial grounds for World War I. The ABMC's first program was landscaping and erecting non-sectarian chapels at each of the eight sites, constructing 11 separate monuments and two tablets at other sites in Europe, and constructing the Allied Expeditionary Forces World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C.^[3] For those buried who could not be identified during World War I, a percentage were commemorated by Star of David markers, rather than a cross; this practice was not continued for those who could not be identified during World War II.^[4]

In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order transferring control of the eight cemeteries to the ABMC, and made the commission responsible for the design, construction, maintenance and operation of all future permanent American military burial grounds outside the United States.

The ABMC has been the caretaker of cemeteries, monuments and memorials for World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Mexican–American War. In 2013, Clark Veterans Cemetery in the Philippines became the 25th site under the control of the commission. Clark Veterans Cemetery dates back to the Philippine–American War at the turn of the 20th century.^[5]

Structure

The agency has its headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and its Overseas Operations Office in Garches, France.

The authorizing legislation for the American Battle Monuments Commission (36 U.S.C., Chapter 21) specifies that the President will appoint the chairman, up to 10 members to the commission (who serve indefinite terms and who serve without pay)^[1] and an officer of the Army to serve as the secretary.^[6]

Chairmen of the ABMC

• General of the Armies John J. Pershing (1923–1948)
• General of the Army George C. Marshall (1949–1959)
• General Jacob L. Devers (1960–1969)
• General Mark W. Clark (1969–1984)
• General Andrew Goodpaster (1985–1990)
• General Paul X. Kelley, (1991–1994, 2001–2005)
• General Frederick F. Woerner, Jr. (1994–2001)
• General Frederick M. Franks, Jr. (2005–2009)
• General Merrill McPeak (2010–present)

Board of Commissioners

• Cindy Campbell
• Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel
• Darrell Dorgan
• Larry R. Ellis
• John L. Estrada
• Rolland E. Kidder
• Richard L. Klass
• Thomas R. Lamont
• Constance Morella

Secretary

• Max Cleland

Operations

The American Battle Monuments Commission employed a full-time staff of 395 people around the world in 2014. All ABMC sites are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week, with the exception of Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Cemeteries are not closed for national holidays. When the sites are open to the public, a commission staff member is available to escort visitors and relatives to grave and memorial sites or to answer questions.

Cemeteries and Memorials of the ABMC

Cemetery	Country	Conflict	Dedicated	Burials	MIA	Web
Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial	France	World War I	1937	2,289	1,060	Details
Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial	Belgium	World War II	1960	5,323	463	Details
Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial	France	World War II	1956	4,409	498	Details
Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial	United Kingdom	World War I	1937	468	563	Details
Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial	United Kingdom	World War II	1956	3,812	5,127	Details
Clark Veterans Cemetery	Philippines	Philippine–American War and after	c. 1900 2013 (with ABMC)	8,000+		Details
Corozal American Cemetery and Memorial	Panama	veterans of the Mexican–American War American Civil War World War I World War II	1914 1982 (with ABMC)	5,450		Details
Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial	France	World War II	1944 1956 (with ABMC)	5,255	424	Details
Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial	Belgium	World War I	1937	368	43	Details
Florence American Cemetery and Memorial	Italy	World War II	1960	4,402	1,409	Details
Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial	Belgium	World War II	1960	7,992	450	Details
Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial	France	World War II	1960	10,489	444	Details
Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial	Luxembourg	World War II	1960	5,076	371	Details
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial	Philippines	World War II	1960	17,201	36,285	Details
Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial	France	World War I	1937	14,246	954	Details
Mexico City National Cemetery	Mexico	Mexican–American War	1851	813	750	Details
Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial	Netherlands	World War II	1960	8,301	1,722	Details
Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial	France	World War II	1956	9,387	1,557	Details
North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial	Tunisia	World War II	1960	2,841	3,724	Details
Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial	France	World War I	1937	6,012	241	Details
Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial	France	World War II	1956	860	294	Details
Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial	Italy	World War II	1956	7,861	3,095	Details
Somme American Cemetery and Memorial	France	World War I	1937	1,844	333	Details
St. Mihiel American Cemetery and Memorial	France	World War I	1937	4,153	284	Details
Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial	France	World War I	1937	1,565	974	Details

Monuments of the ABMC

Monument	Location	Country	Dedication	Battle	Web
Spanish–American War
Santiago Surrender Tree	Santiago de Cuba	Cuba	Site of the negotiation of the Spanish Gen. José Toral's surrender of Santiago de Cuba on July 13, 1898	Siege of Santiago	Details
World War I
Audenarde American Monument	Oudenaarde	Belgium	37th and 91st Divisions	October–November 1918	Details
Belleau Wood American Monument	Belleau	France	5th and 6th Marine Regiments	Battle of Belleau Wood	Details
Bellicourt American Monument	St. Quentin	France	27th and 30th Divisions	Battle of St. Quentin Canal	Details
Cantigny American Monument	Montdidier	France	28th Regiment of the First Army	Battle of Cantigny	Details
Château-Thierry American Monument	Château-Thierry	France	U.S. and French soldiers	Aisne-Marne Offensive and Oise-Aisne Offensive	Details
Chaumont AEF Headquarters Marker	Chaumont	France	American Expeditionary Forces led by General Pershing	Headquarters of the AEF, September 1, 1917 to July 11, 1919	Details
Kemmel American Monument	Ypres	Belgium	27th and 30th Divisions of the II Corps	Ypres-Lys Offensive August 18 to September 4, 1918	Details
Montfaucon American Monument	Verdun	France	First Army and Second Army	Meuse-Argonne Offensive September 26, 1918 to November 11, 1918	Details
Montsec American Monument	St. Mihiel	France	First Army Second Army	September 12–16, 1918 November 9–11	Details
Naval Monument at Brest	Brest	France	the naval forces of the United States and France during World War I	Headquarters of the United States and French navies	Details
Naval Monument at Gibraltar	Straits of Gibraltar	Gibraltar	U.S. Navy and British Royal Navy for major victories	August 1917–November 11, 1918	Details
Sommepy American Monument	Sainte-Menehould	France	70,000 troops who drove the German army back north of the Aisne River: 42nd Division 369th, 371st, and 372nd Infantry Regiments 2nd and 36th Divisions 36th Division	July 15–18, 1918 September 26-October8 September 29-October 28 October 11–October 27	Details
Souilly American Headquarters Marker	Claye-Souilly	France	Marking the headquarters of the First Army during the last few months of the war	Meuse-Argonne Offensive	Details
Tours American Monument	Tours	France	24,000 civilians of the Services of Supply and 645,000 soldiers of the American Expeditionary Forces	*Constructed almost 1,000 miles of railway tracks; Assembled more than 1,500 locomotives and 18,000 rail cars; Managed hospitals with a capacity of 192,844 beds.	Details
World War II
Cabanatuan American Memorial	Cabanatuan City	Philippines	U.S. and Filipino victims of the Bataan Death March and Cabanatuan internment camps		Details
East Coast Memorial for the Missing	New York City	United States	4,611 U.S. sailors and service members lost in the Atlantic Ocean during the war	Battle of the Atlantic	Details
Guadalcanal American Memorial	Guadalcanal	Solomon Islands	U.S. soldiers and allies who died in Americans and its allies who the Battle of Guadalcanal	Guadalcanal Campaign	Details
Honolulu Memorial	Honolulu, Hawaii	United States	Dedicated to the 18,096 U.S. World War II soldiers missing from the Pacific (excluding those from the southwest Pacific) and 8,200 missing from the Korean War		Details
Pointe du Hoc American Monument	Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer	France	Second Ranger Battalion members who on June 6, 1944, scaled the 100 ft (30 m) cliff of Pointe du Hoc and seized German artillery that could have fired on the U.S. troops landing at Omaha and Utah beaches.	D-Day	Details
Papua American Marker	Papua	Papua New Guinea	U.S. soldiers who fought in Southwest Pacific theatre	South West Pacific theatre of World War II	Details
Saipan American Memorial	Saipan	Northern Mariana Islands	U.S. marines and soldiers (24,000) and Chamorro who died during the liberation of the Mariana Islands during World War II	Mariana and Palau Islands campaign	Details
Utah Beach American Monument	Ste-Marie-du-Mont	France	VII Corps members who liberated the Cotentin Peninsula	Battle of Cherbourg	Details
West Coast Memorial to the Missing	San Francisco	United States	417 U.S. sailors and service members lost in the Pacific Ocean theater	Pacific Ocean theater of World War II	Details
Western Naval Task Force Marker	Casablanca	Morocco	U.S. Western Task Force soldiers who made the first transoceanic amphibious operation	Operation Torch	Details
Korean War
United Nations Memorial Cemetery	Busan	South Korea	U.S. service members who fought in the Korean War	Korean War	Details

See also

• American War Memorials Overseas
• Register of Culturally Significant Property
• National Register of Historic Places

Other national war graves commissions

• Austria – Austrian Black Cross (Austrian War graves on the Vienna Central cemetery are still looked after by German War Graves Commission.^[7])
• France – Ministère de la Défense^[8]
• Germany – German War Graves Commission
• Netherlands – Oorlogsgravenstichting^[9] (Netherlands Wikipedia)
• Russia – Association of War Memorials
• United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa – Commonwealth War Graves Commission

References

1. "ABMC Annual Report" (PDF). American Battle Monuments Commission. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
2. "About". American Battle Monuments Commission. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
3. "History". American Battle Monuments Commission. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
4. Richard Rubin (21 May 2013). The Last of the Doughboys: The Forgotten Generation and Their Forgotten World War. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 227. ISBN 0-547-84369-0.
5. "ABMC to Assume Control of Clark Veterans Cemetery". American Battle Monuments Commission. December 16, 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
6. "ABMC Commissioners". American Battle Monuments Commission. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
7. Österreich betreut Kriegsgräberstätten. In: Stimme & Weg, 2/2011, p. 24.
8. Ministère de la Défense, SGA Sépultures de guerre (File of French soldiers killed in action)
9. Website of the Oorlogsgravenstichting in Netherlands

• Nishiura, Elizabeth, editor (1989). American Battle Monuments: A Guide to Military Cemeteries and Monuments Maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission. Detroit, Michigan: Omnigraphics Inc. ISBN 978-1558888128. OCLC 20504222
• Hallowed Grounds (2009). PBS video of 11 America's overseas military cemeteries in eight different countries.

Bibliography

• American Battle Monuments Commission (1938). American armies and battlefields in Europe: a history, guide, and reference book. U.S.G.P.O.Selected photos available online through the Washington State Library's Classics in Washington History collection
• American Battle Monuments Commission (1938). American armies and battlefields in Europe: a history, guide, and reference book. U.S.G.P.O. Maps available online through the Washington State Office of the Secretary of State's Washington History collection
• Sledge, Michael (2005). Soldier Dead: How We Recover, Identify, Bury, and Honor Our Military Fallen. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-13514-9. OCLC 81452881.

External links

• Official website