Hallowed Ground for U.S. War Heroes

by Jim Winnerman

FLORENCE, Italy — We had just left our hotel for a much-anticipated trip through the Tuscan countryside, so no one in our tour group was happy about our Italian guide’s announcement that he wanted us to make an unscheduled stop.

“I think you will appreciate it,” was all Paolo Santioli offered as an explanation.

A few minutes later, our bus pulled through the entrance of the Florence American Cemetery, where more than 4,400 American men and women from World War II are buried. After proceeding up the wooded hillside to the memorial pylon towering over the rows of pristine white grave markers, we got off the bus and explored the grounds.

Some in our group walked quietly around the reflecting pools and marble maps indicating from which battles the dead had come, while others wandered among the manicured graves.

Back on the bus, it was noticeably quiet. Then our 44-year-old guide said simply: “Many of your countrymen died so I could live in freedom. Thank you.”     

The American Battle Monuments Commission, which is trying to raise the profile of some of these lesser-known cemeteries, would be happy to know Santioli took us to see this tribute to U.S. war dead. The agency, established by Congress in 1923, oversees 24 such cemeteries in Europe, North Africa, Latin America and the Philippines.

But other than the frequently visited Normandy American Cemetery in France — which overlooks Omaha Beach and the site of the D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944 — few people come to visit the sites where more than 125,000 men and women lay buried not far from where they died in combat in World Wars I and II.  

And tourists are missing out. Several of these cemeteries are close to popular destinations such as Rome, London and Paris. And as tourist Leigh Venzke of Arlington, Va., found, a visit can be a moving experience.

When a cruise ship tour took Venzke and his group to Tunis, Tunisia, the guide for the 30 Americans told them they would be stopping at the North Africa American Cemetery. None of the pre-trip itineraries had included the visit, and Venzke remembers the announcement was met with surprise

“Everyone’s mood changed quickly when we got there,” Venzke recalls. “We were greeted by the American cemetery superintendent, who gave us a tour along a memorial wall that contained a history of where the soldiers came from. Then the chimes in the carillon played the national anthem followed by ‘Taps,’ and ‘God Bless America.’ It turned out to be a very emotional visit for everyone.”

The haunting beauty of each cemetery creates a lasting impression, says Martha Sell, chief of public programs for the commission. Teams of sculptors, painters, muralists and landscape designers — many with outstanding reputations — worked together on the projects, she says.

“They were built to reflect the sacrifices Americans made fighting for freedom, and to attract people to come and reflect on the accomplishments made by the deceased,” Sell says.

The cemeteries are part art museum and part botanical garden. Sculptures are prevalent in relief wall carvings and free-standing statues. In the Netherlands American Cemetery in Holland, a statue of a mourning woman flanked by doves of peace overlooks the graves. The cemetery outside Cambridge, England, has a sculpture of an airplane flying into eternity.

Native plantings and reflective pools create parklike scenes that are maintained in keeping with the strict standards set by the commission. “There wasn’t a blade of grass out of place in Tunis,” Venzke remembers.

To encourage Americans to visit, the commission helps travelers plan visits to fit their scheduled itineraries. The agency furnishes maps and directions, and suggests where to stay.

Locations, in fact, were partially selected to make it easy for the public to visit. An example is the Suresnes American Cemetery in Paris, which is within sight of the Eiffel Tower. At all locations, a superintendent or assistant superintendent is typically available for those seeking a specific grave.

Only American forces and those serving with them, such as the Red Cross, are buried in the cemeteries. All are closed to new burials, except when remains from a long-ago war are discovered.

From the Philippines to the United Kingdom, the headstones tell silent stories of sacrifice. Manila American Cemetery is the final resting place for 28 men awarded the Medal of Honor. Several cemeteries contain graves of multiple sets of brothers buried side by side.

The Brookwood American Cemetery outside London holds the graves of 114 shipmates of the USS Tampa, which was sunk in 1918 by a German submarine.

Many graves contain names familiar to Americans. Gen. George S. Patton is buried at Luxembourg, and Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. and his brother Quentin are interred at Normandy. Glenn Miller and Joseph Kennedy are memorialized at Cambridge, as is poet Joyce Kilmer at Oise-Aisne, France.

In some countries, foreigners belonging to local organizations have each adopted a separate American tombstone, and they place flowers on it on appropriate holidays such as Memorial Day.

No new overseas cemeteries have been created since the end of World War II. Back then, the next-of-kin could choose between a foreign burial or having a relative returned to the United States. But in subsequent wars, from Korea to Iraq, all U.S. remains have been returned home.

As more years pass since the time the soldiers died in combat, visits by family members of the deceased are actually increasing — with more grandchildren and distant relatives coming, Sell says.

However, relatives remain a small portion of those who do visit. Most are like me: I knew not a soul at the Florence American Cemetery.

But that Italian tour guide gave me an unexpected gift when he took us on the memorial detour. I got the chance to see the care our nation has committed to honor these brave men and women and the dignity of their final resting places so far from home. No other highlight of that three-week vacation can compare.

For more information on American Battle Monuments Commission cemeteries or to have the organization assist you in planning a visit, call 703-696-6897 or click on www.abmc.gov.