aisne-marne memorial & cemetery

This is Belleau Wood where the US Marines earned their nickname of Devil Dogs from the Germans. It is a very quiet and off the beaten path place. If you follow the road around the cemetery into the woods, you can view some artillery pieces and some other equipment. You can see the outlines of trenches. The bulldog fountain is in town. We missed seeing this as it was lunch time and it was closed. Give yourself about 45 minutes here for the cemetery and the trip into the woods.

This was my first World War 1 cemetery and it is beautiful. Nestled at the base of Belleau Wood, it is spread out in two sections going left and right in front of the chapel. It is haunting to hear song like "America the Beautiful" being played at the top of the hour, but I hope it shows we have not forgotten then heroes buried the French soil. The headstones here are different, with lots of marbling and color in them. This is a must see if you are even close-by.

Considering all the American Battle Monuments Cemeteries we've visited in France and Belgium, I think Aisne-Marne is the most beautiful. It covers 42.5 acres and contains 2,289 American dead, most of those killed in the Marne Valley in 1918.There is a Visitor Center at the entrance where you can sign the register and use the restrooms. Be sure to talk to the staff. They are a wealth of knowledge about the cemetery, the men who rest there, and the surrounding area.The Avenue is at a slight incline as you walk towards the Chapel/Carilion which is surrounded by beautiful flowering plants and trees. The Chapel contains the names of 1,060 of the missing. I found it peaceful to just walk the grounds and think about the sacrifices made in that place almost 100 years ago.Belleau Wood adjoins the cemetery and is well worth a visit. Just follow the road signs as you leave the cemetery.The best advice I can give you about visiting WWI American Battle Monuments Cemeteries and Memorials is to go to the website: www.abmc.gov. The Cemeteries are sometimes difficult to find because they are located so far off the main roads and out in the middle of farm country. Road signage is fair to poor. And there are no street addresses so even a GPS isn't much help unless you have the coordinates. You can find all this information on the website. Or you can contact the American Battle Monuments Commission at 2300 Clarendon Blvd. Suite 500, Arlington, VA 22201, and request a copy of their booklet, "American Memorials and Overseas Military Cemeteries".If you travel in France, make an effort to visit at least one American Cemetery. It's so important that we remember.