About Somme American Cemetery

Overview

The World War I Somme American Cemetery and Memorial in France is sited on a gentle slope typical of the open, rolling Picardie countryside.

The 14.3-acre cemetery contains the graves of more than 1,800 of our military dead. Most lost their lives while serving in American units attached to British armies or in operations near Cantigny. The headstones, set in regular rows, are separated into four plots by paths that intersect at the flagpole near the top of the slope. The longer axis leads to the chapel at the eastern end of the cemetery.

A massive bronze door surmounted by an American eagle leads into the chapel, whose outer walls contain sculptured pieces of military equipment. Once inside, light from a cross-shaped crystal window above the marble altar bathes the subdued interior with light. The walls bear the names of almost 350 of the missing. Rosettes mark the names of soldiers listed on the Walls of the Missing that have since been recovered and identified.