Historically Speaking Our Honored Dead, Overseas

emorial Day will find many of us at By BG John S. Brown civilians and dependents who died in Mcemeteries and monuments, honor- U.S. Army retired Panama. ing fellow Americans who died for their As grand as the late 19th-century leap country. In an earlier article we spoke about the evolution overseas was, it was dwarfed by the demands of World of Memorial Day and of our robust network of national War I. Russia was destroyed, and Great Britain and France cemeteries, most of which are now administered by the De- were on the brink of destruction. Almost 5 million Ameri- partment of Veterans Affairs. Across the entire United cans mobilized, of whom more than 2 million served over- States, they attract millions of visitors a year and provide fi- seas. Almost 117,000 died, of whom 30,921 are buried over- nal resting places within a few hours’ drive of almost any- seas in American cemeteries and 4,452 are honored on one who resides in our country. Our commitment to honor Tablets of the Missing. Their sacrifice turned the tide. Grate- fallen soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines does not stop at ful allies ceded us land for burial of our dead, and in 1923 a the water’s edge, however. There have been more than 140 grateful Congress established the American Battle Monu- million man-years of military service since World War II, ments Commission to commemorate the service, achieve- perhaps a third overseas. ments and sacrifices of American armed forces. During the 18th and much of the 19th centuries, all but The first order of business for the commission was an un- a few of the Americans who died for our country or precedented effort to build cemeteries and monuments wor- its Colonial predecessor did so within the boundaries of thy of those who had served. The first chairman, GEN John what is now the United States. Our first truly distant, ma- J. Pershing, vowed, “Time will not dim the glory of their jor military expedition—too distant to adequately recover deeds.” To that purpose he inspired cemeteries now famous bodies with the technology of the time—was to Mexico City in 1847. In 1851, Congress arranged to have the remains of 750 American soldiers from numerous burial sites on differ- ent battlefields brought together in what has become the Mexico City Na- tional Cemetery. Here, about a mile from our Embassy, a beautifully land- scaped garden surrounds their monu- ment. Over the years, about 800 of their countrymen, mostly diplomatic and military personnel and their fam- ilies, have joined them.

Following the paroxysm of the Am. Battle Monuments Comm. American Civil War and a generation committed to opening the American Above, 5,301 West, American servicemen again de- American veterans ployed overseas in large numbers. Ex- and others who peditions took them to Hawaii and the contributed to the Philippines. The Santiago Surrender construction, oper- ation and security Tree in Cuba honors the sacrifices of of the Panama Americans and Cubans alike in achiev- Canal are buried at ing Cuba’s independence from Spain. the Corozal ceme- An alliance with Panama brought with tery, north of it the mammoth task of building, and Panama City. Left, then maintaining, the Panama Canal more than 1,500 through an isthmus then teeming with Americans are buried in this tropical diseases. The Corozal Ameri- cemetery outside can Cemetery and Memorial honors al- Mexico City. most 5,500 American servicemembers, Am. Battle Monuments Comm.

May 2012 I ARMY 85 Am. Battle Monuments Comm. U.S. Army/SGT Fay Conroy U.S. U.S. Marine Corps Clockwise from top, the cemetery in the Paris suburb of Suresnes contains the graves of 1,541 Americans who died in World War I and 24 unknown American war dead from World War II. The Aisne-Marne Memor- ial commemorates 1,060 unidentified or missing Americans killed in France in a 1918 battle. French and U.S. flags honor more than 1,400 soldiers at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery on Memorial Day.

for their beauty, landscaping and mixtures of elegant head- faucon Monument, they could scan across the vastness of stones with appropriate architecture. Their locations track the largest battle Americans had ever fought. The message the war itself: Brookwood, Suresnes, Flanders Field, Somme, was clear: their sons and daughters would not be forgotten. Aisne-Marne, Oise-Aisne, St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne. Fourteen independent monuments complement the ceme- orld War II required even greater sacrifices. More teries. The results are breathtaking. Interwar visits by Gold Wthan 16 million Americans served in uniform, of Star mothers sponsored by the U.S. government provided whom more than 405,000 died. Of the dead, 93,238 are one grateful testimonial after another acknowledging the buried in American Battle Monuments Commission ceme- tasteful homage paid to their fallen loved ones. At Meuse- teries overseas and 55,862 are honored on Tablets of the Argonne American Cemetery, for example, they could view Missing. The scope is worldwide: two World War II ceme- more than 14,000 headstones in flawless array watched over teries in Belgium, one in England, six in France, two in Italy, by a magnificent chapel amid reflecting pools and luxuriant one in Luxembourg, one in the Netherlands, one in the but carefully groomed vegetation. Nearby, from the Mont- Philippines and one in Tunisia. Perhaps the most famous is Normandy American Cemetery, perched on the bluffs above BG John S. Brown, USA Ret., was chief of military history at Omaha Beach and more than once visited by our Presidents the U.S. Army Center of Military History from December on the June 6 anniversary. The World War II cemeteries are 1998 to October 2005. He commanded the 2nd Battalion, 66th complemented by 11 independent monuments. Armor, in Iraq and Kuwait during the Gulf War and returned By far the largest cemetery is Manila American Cemetery. to Kuwait as commander of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Di- Here 17,201 are interred, including 570 Philippine scouts. vision, in 1995. He has a doctorate in history from Indiana An astonishing 36,285 appear on Manila’s Tablets of the University. His book, Kevlar Legions: A History of Army Missing, testimony to the perils of combat across the vast ex- Transformation 1989–2005, was published in 2011. panse of the Pacific.

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Above, overlooking Omaha Beach, the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial contains the graves of 9,387 U.S. servicemembers, most of whom died on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Left, the names of 18,096 American servicemembers missing from the Pacific during World War II; 8,200 from Korea; and 2,504 from Vietnam are inscribed in courts flanking grand stairs leading to the Honolulu Memorial in Hawaii.

Manila, it can sometimes seem that the local schoolchild- ren know even more about the sacrifices of our service- members than our own schoolchildren do. They routinely visit our cemeteries and monuments, a family or a class- Am. Battle Monuments Comm. room at a time. This is all to the good. Whether in the ince World War II we have returned our dead to the United States or overseas, we can find splendid venues to SUnited States rather than burying them overseas. Al- help us achieve Pershing’s lofty goal. ( though new cemetery responsibilities have largely mi- grated to the National Cemeteries and the Department of Recommended Reading: Veterans Affairs, the American Battle Monuments Com- Frost, Helen, Memorial Day (Minneapolis, Minn.: Peb- mission still has the mission of commemorating the ser- ble Books, 2000) vice, achievements and sacrifice of American armed forces where they have served overseas. Its Honolulu Memorial, Hartzog, William W., American Military Heritage: U.S. for example, has pavilions adding 8,200 from the Korean Army (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, War and 2,504 from the Vietnam War to the Tablets of the 2001) Missing. More monuments are planned. Stewart, Richard W., American Military History, Volume Memorial Day will be honored overseas as it is at home. 1: The United States Army and the Forging of a Nation, Those attending events overseas will include locals, allies 1775–1917 (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military His- we fought alongside, peoples we defended or liberated, tory, 2005) and their descendants. Former enemies who are now our American Battle Monuments Commission Web site friends and their descendants may well be there, too. (www.abmc.gov) Many will be children. In places like Normandy and

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