American Battle Monuments Commission facts for kids
Seal of the American Battle Monuments Commission
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| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | 1923 |
| Type | Independent Agency of the United States Government |
| Headquarters | 2300 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 500 Arlington, Virginia 22201 |
| Motto | "Time will not dim the glory of their deeds." |
| Employees | 472 (2023) |
| Annual budget | $73.1 million (2023) |
| Agency executive |
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The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) is a special group in the United States government. Its main job is to take care of U.S. military cemeteries, memorials, and monuments. Most of these are located outside the United States.
The ABMC looks after 26 cemeteries and 31 memorials, monuments, and markers. More than 140,000 U.S. service members are buried in these cemeteries. Also, over 94,000 service members who went missing, were lost, or were buried at sea are remembered on special walls at the cemeteries or on three memorials in the United States. The ABMC also has an online list of all the names linked to each site.
Contents
History of the ABMC
The ABMC was created by the United States Congress in 1923. Its main goals are:
- To honor the brave actions of U.S. armed forces who have served since April 6, 1917.
- To build and take care of U.S. military burial grounds in other countries. This includes designing, building, and maintaining them.
- To make sure that other U.S. groups and people build military monuments and markers in foreign countries in a proper way.
- To encourage these groups to keep their monuments and markers in good condition.
After World War I, the United States Department of War set up eight burial grounds in Europe. The ABMC's first big project was to make these sites look nice. They also built chapels at each site, 11 separate monuments, and two special tablets in Europe. They also built the Allied Expeditionary Forces World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C.
In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an order. This order gave the ABMC control of the eight cemeteries. It also made the ABMC responsible for designing, building, and taking care of all future U.S. military burial grounds outside the United States.
The ABMC has been the caretaker for cemeteries, monuments, and memorials from many wars. These include World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Mexican–American War. In 2013, the Clark Veterans Cemetery in the Philippines became the 25th site under the ABMC's care. This cemetery dates back to the Philippine–American War from the early 1900s. The Lafayette Escadrille Memorial Cemetery near Paris, France, was added to the ABMC's care in 2017.
How the ABMC is Organized
The main office of the ABMC is in Arlington, Virginia. It also has an office in Paris, France, for its work overseas.
The law that created the ABMC says that the President can choose up to 11 people to be part of the commission. These people serve without pay. The President also appoints an officer from the Army to be the secretary.
Leaders of the ABMC
Many important people have led the ABMC over the years. Some well-known leaders include John J. Pershing and George C. Marshall. The current Secretary is Charles K. Djou. A group of commissioners, appointed by the President, also helps guide the agency.
Daily Operations
The American Battle Monuments Commission has a team of 472 full-time staff members as of 2023. All ABMC sites are open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. They are only closed on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The cemeteries stay open on other national holidays. When the sites are open, an ABMC staff member is there to help visitors. They can guide families to grave sites or answer questions.
Cemeteries and Memorials of the ABMC
The ABMC cares for many important sites around the world. These places honor American service members from different conflicts.
| 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 |
| Lafayette Escadrille Cemetery and Memorial | France |
World War I | 1928 2017 (with ABMC) |
51 | 5 | 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
These monuments honor specific battles or groups of soldiers.
| 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 |
| Meuse-Argonne American Memorial | Verdun | France |
First Army and Second Army | Meuse-Argonne Offensive September 26, 1918, to November 11, 1918 |
Details |
| Montsec American Monument | Saint-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-October 8 September 29-October 28 October 11–October 27 |
Details |
| Souilly American Headquarters Marker | 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;
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Details |
| World War II | |||||
| Battle of the Bulge Monument | Bastogne | Belgium |
U.S. soldiers wounded or killed in the Battle of the Bulge | Battle of the Bulge | Details |
| Cabanatuan American Memorial | Cabanatuan | 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 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), 8,200 missing from the Korean War, and 2,504 from the Vietnam 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
Other national war graves commissions
- Austria – Austrian Black Cross
- France – Ministère de la Défense
- Germany – German War Graves Commission
- Netherlands – Oorlogsgravenstichting (Dutch Wikipedia)
- Russia – Association of War Memorials
- United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa – Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC)
