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NORMANDY AMERICAN CEMETERY AND MEMORIAL

( English Version | Version française )

Click here to see a large view of Mall from behind the statue.


The Normandy Campaign – The Advance Inland

The Normandy Campaign – The Advance Inland

Follow the Normandy Campaign from D-Day through the Liberation of Paris. To access this interactive program, click here.


Watch the Nornmandy Visitor Center Preview Video

Visitor Center open / Le Visitor Center est ouvert au public
To watch the video, click here. / Pour voir la vidéo, cliquer ici.
To learn more, click here. / Pour en savoir plus, cliquer ici.


   This video presents a brief narrated tour of Normandy American Cemetery's landscaped grounds, architecture, and works of art.

Normandy.wmv - windows media video ( 12 MB )


The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France is located on the site of the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944 and the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II. The cemetery site, at the north end of its ½ mile access road, covers 172.5 acres and contains the graves of 9,387 of our military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations. On the Walls of the Missing in a semicircular garden on the east side of the memorial are inscribed 1,557 names. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.

The memorial consists of a semicircular colonnade with a loggia at each end containing large maps and narratives of the military operations; at the center is the bronze statue, "Spirit of American Youth." An orientation table overlooking the beach depicts the landings in Normandy. Facing west at the memorial, one sees in the foreground the reflecting pool; beyond is the burial area with a circular chapel and, at the far end, granite statues representing the U.S. and France.

The cemetery is open to the public daily except on December 25 and January 1. Hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from April 15 to September 15, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. the rest of the year. It is open on host country holidays. When the cemetery is open to the public, staff members are on duty in the Visitor Center to answer questions and escort relatives to grave and memorial sites.

Photos

Normandy American Cemetery
Walkway to cemetery
Ceiling detail in Memorial chapel
Medal of Honor recipient
Mother and son visit
Statue representing the United States
Medal of Honor recipient
Garden of the missing
Omaha Beach
Aerial View of Cemetery

How to Get There

GPS Coordinates: N49 21.394 W0 51.192

Normandy American Cemetery sits on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel, east of St. Laurent-sur-Mer and northwest of Bayeux in Colleville-sur-Mer, 170 miles west of Paris. The cemetery may be reached by automobile via highway A-13 to Caen, then N-13 to Bayeux and Formigny, continuing on D-517 towards St. Laurent-sur-Mer and D-514 to Colleville-sur-Mer, where signs mark the entrance to the cemetery. There is rail service between Paris (Gare St. Lazare) and Bayeux, where taxicab and tour bus service is available; travel by rail takes 3 hours. Hotels are available at Bayeux and Port-en-Bessin.

For More Information

  1. If you have Adobe Acrobat, you may download a cemetery booklet with or without pictures. If you do not have a copy of Adobe's Acrobat Reader currently installed on your PC, you will need to download and configure a free copy before you can read and print the booklet.

    Download Booklet with pictures ( 1 MB )

    Download Booklet without pictures ( 36 KB )

  2. You may contact us for information about this cemetery with our online electronic form.



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