lorraine american cemetery and memorial

This was our second time to visit here. The first time we miss the close by 5 minutes. So this time we made sure we were there mid-day. My grandfather is buried there. I had no preconceived ideas of what to expect. I obviously never knew him nor did my mother. It was a beautiful cloudless day. We checked in the visitors center and told the lady that we were their to visit my grandfather. She really perked up and went to work to locate his grave. Yes, this place is HUGE, very impressive and very well maintained. Once she had the location she grabbed a bucket and a flag. She locked up the visitors center and walked us to his grave. We were floored. Once at his grave she took some sand (which was from Omaha Beach) and filled in the writing on the tomb stone so that we would be able to read it and see it in a photo. Placed the American Flag into the ground and left us to finish our visit. Her only request was that we return to the visitors center to sign the guest book. Very moving experience and one our family will NEVER forget. Once back to the visitors center, we did sign the book to learn that only 50 of the ten of thousands of visitors each year are actually family members. Which explained why she walked us to the site. Very impressed. While we were touring she was busy researching my grandfather and pulled together a folder of the cemetery and information about his tour and where he died. Very interesting! To say the least the visit for us was priceless. A must see!!!

Earlier in or holiday we had visited the cemetery where four servicemen are buried (one was an uncle of my wife), so what a contrast to come here. The cemetery is immaculate in every way and it is the largest American memorial in France. Over 10,000 are buried here and you feel the responsibility to look at each headstone to remember the sacrifice they made for us. Clearly this is not possible in the time available, but I hope you understand what I mean. The memorial building is very well presented. A truly memorable experience.

Our visit here was unexpected, after booking the Novotel St Avold 200m away. The visit was humbling and very moving. The sheer scale of the site and number of war graves leaves an unforgettable memory. If you are in the area, do not miss this. In fact everyone should see it...

Be warned, you don't leave this place in the same state of mind as you came. It makes you think of our past and future and our trans-atlantic ties. Extremely well maintained cemetery. You really must visit this if you are in the neighbourhood.

This is bigger cemetery than the one in Normandy. More low-key however. It was raining, which was appropriate for the mood.

My wife and her sister have an uncle who is buried here. Doing research we were able to locate his resting place. We called the ABMC a few days prior to our arrival. The staff met us at the visitor's center and we were escorted to his gravesite. The ABMC does beyond an excellent service to those who lost their lives in defense of our freedoms. Please remember them all. Thank you!

This cemetery is on the left hand side as you go into town after leaving the motorway in Saint Arold.It is open from 9am to 5 pm.It has impressive gates and the area is exceptionally well maintained.The cemetery is well laid out and each stone tells date of death and where the person came from. All appear to have died in late 1944 or early 1945.It makes you appreciate how many people died when the war was nearly over.

This is the largest American cemetery of World War II in Europe. The cemetery is very vast and the layout makes it unable to oversee the cemetery at once. This surely does not make the cemetery less impressive. The maintenance is perfect.

This is a must stop if you visit the area, it is beautifully well kept and does all those who lost their lives justice

If you have any interest in WW2, this is a must visit. The memorial is beautifully maintained. Gives you a real sense of the tragedy of the war and the incredible sacrifice made.

Very moving. Manicured grounds, beautiful view. I understand that US casulaties in Germany were brought to friendly counries for burial, and theis is the largest resting place, with more than 10 000 tombs.

The previous comment from the visitor from Perth is unnecessary and unappreciated (What's the GFC?). As if politics from any nation is pretty. The cemetery was closed for a short period of time, is now open again, and quite a humbling site to take in. It's definitely worth your time, and it will take quite some time to walk the grounds and take it all in.

Difficult to describe. Not really a sightseeing trip. Beautifully kept place and a rightful honour to the men buried there. Makes you think.

Beautiful site, paying those who gave their lives for our freedom the full respect they deserve. The least we could to for them.

My great-uncle and 3 of his B24 crew are buried here. When my father and I visited, we were the only visitors at that time, and got there as they opened.The cemetery itself has a nice layout, and the grounds were very peaceful. The spacing of the markers is nice, unlike some we have seen.Our only complaint was the visitor's center. It did not seem to have been updated since the 70's. We had forgotten to bring the print-outs of the 4 graves we wanted to visit. The woman who helped us was very nice, but it was awkward going into her very small (and smoke-filled) office. Also, despite showing her the names we were looking for, she told us twice that one of the graves was not there. We were sure it was and had her look again, while I looked at the screen, too, and that's when I noticed she was misspelling the name. Fortunately we did know for sure he was there... what if we didn't and had been incorrectly told he wasn't there, and gone away?As the only members of our family to ever visit here, it was a very special time. It was overwhelming to realize that even though there are more than 10,000 buried here, this is just one of many WWII cemeteries.