American Battle Monuments Commission


The American Battle Monuments Commission is an 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.
As of 2018, there are 26 cemeteries and 29 memorials, monuments and markers under the care of the ABMC. There are more than 140,000 U.S. servicemen and servicewomen interred at the cemeteries, and more than 94,000 missing in action, or lost or buried at sea are memorialized on cemetery Walls of the Missing and on 3 memorials in the United States. The ABMC also maintains an online database of names associated with each site.

History

The ABMC was established by the United States Congress in 1923. Its purpose is to:
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. 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.
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. The Lafayette Escadrille Memorial Cemetery outside Paris, France was added to the commission's responsibilities in 2017.

Structure

The agency has its headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and its Overseas Operations Office in Paris, France.
The authorizing legislation for the American Battle Monuments Commission specifies that the President may appoint up to 11 members to the commission and an officer of the Army to serve as the secretary.

Chairmen of the ABMC

The Commission is non-partisan politically.

Board of Commissioners

The American Battle Monuments Commission employs a full-time staff of 418 people around the world in 2017. 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

CemeteryCountryConflictDedicatedBurialsMIAWeb
Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War I19372,2891,060
Ardennes American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War II19605,323463
Brittany American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War II19564,409498
Brookwood American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War I1937468563
Cambridge American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War II19563,8125,127
Clark Veterans CemeteryPhilippine–American War
and after		c. 1900
2013 		8,000+
Corozal American Cemetery and Memorialveterans of the
Mexican–American War
American Civil War
World War I
World War II		1914
1982 		5,450
Epinal American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War II1944
1956 		5,255424
Flanders Field American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War I193736843
Florence American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War II19604,4021,409
Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War II19607,992450
Lafayette Escadrille Cemetery and MemorialWorld War I1928
2017 		515
Lorraine American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War II196010,489444
Luxembourg American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War II19605,076371
Manila American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War II196017,20136,285
Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War I193714,246954
Mexico City National CemeteryMexican–American War1851813750
Netherlands American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War II19608,3011,722
Normandy American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War II19569,3871,557
North Africa American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War II19602,8413,724
Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War I19376,012241
Rhone American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War II1956860294
Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War II19567,8613,095
Somme American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War I19371,844333
St. Mihiel American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War I19374,153284
Suresnes American Cemetery and MemorialWorld War I19371,565974

Monuments of the ABMC

Other national war graves commissions