| Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial | |
|---|---|
| American Battle Monuments Commission | |
 Lorraine American Military Cemetery, Memorial Day 2010, ceremonial wreaths | |
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| Used for those deceased 1944–1945 | |
| Established | September 1944; 81 years ago (1944-09) (Completed 1960; 66 years ago (1960)) |
| Location | 49°7′19″N6°43′3″E / 49.12194°N 6.71750°E /49.12194; 6.71750 near Saint-Avold,Moselle, France |
| Designed by | Murphy & Locraft, Washington, D.C.(Monument) Allyn R. Jennings of Oley, Pennsylvania(Landscaping) |
| Total burials | 10,481 |
| Commemorated | 444 |
| Burials by nation | |
United States | |
| Burials by war | |
| Statistics source:ABMC website | |
Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial is aSecond World War American militarywar grave cemetery, located just outsideSaint-Avold,Moselle, France. The cemetery, containing 10,481 American soldiers KIA (the second largest number of American burials in Europe, after theMeuse-Argonne American Cemetery ofWorld War I dead, with 14,246), covers 113.5 acres (45.9 ha), was dedicated in 1960. It is administered by theAmerican Battle Monuments Commission.[1]
During and shortly after the war over 16,000 American casualties were interred across theSaint Avold region in France. Those interred at the Lorraine American Cemetery died mostly in the autumn of 1944 during theAllied advance from Paris to the Rhine as the Americans sought to expel the Germans from fortress city ofMetz and advance on theSiegfried Line during the latter stages ofWorld War II. They were mainly part of the U.S.Third andSeventh Armies.
In the late 1940s many bodies from the Saint Avold region were repatriated to the US or concentrated at Lorraine.
The cemetery's headstones are arranged in nine plots forming an elliptical design ending with an overlook feature. A memorial has ceramic operations maps with narratives and service flags. Either side of the memorial are Tablets of the Missing commemorating 444 soldiers missing in action (rosettes mark those since recovered and identified).
Anecdote: Sheltered from view, hidden by trees in a place a little apart, is a small vegetable garden created in 1962 by Bouaroua Aissa, gardener of the cemetery. More than 60 years later, this garden still exists and is maintained by another gardener who perpetuates Aissa's work.
Media from Commons| International | |
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