Rhone American Cemetery to host ceremony commemorating 82nd anniversary of Operation Dragoon

Published August 7, 2026

The American Battle Monuments Commission will host a ceremony at Rhone American Cemetery located in Draguignan, France, on Aug. 16, 2026, at 9:45 a.m. CET.

This event will mark the 82nd anniversary of Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of Southern France during World War II. It will honor the men and women who gave their lives in pursuit of freedom.

ABMC representatives, U.S. and French officials as well as the general audience will gather to remember the enduring legacy made on French soil.

Ceremony details:
Date: Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026.
Time: 9:45 a.m. CET
Location: Rhone American Cemetery, 553 Blvd. John F. Kennedy, 83300 Draguignan

The ceremony will include speeches from dignitaries, a wreath-laying and a moment of silence in memory of the approximately 1,150 service members buried or commemorated at the cemetery.

Johnny Matherne, superintendent of Rhone American Cemetery, and David Americo, ABMC chief of Cemetery Operations, pay their respects in front of the ABMC wreath during the ceremony honoring the 81st anniversary of Operation Dragoon Aug. 16, 2025, in Draguignan, France. (Photo: American Battle Monuments Commission)

Rhone American Cemetery is located along the route where the U.S. Seventh Army drove up the Rhone Valley. The site was dedicated in 1956. It was initially established Aug. 17, 1944, after the Seventh Army’s surprise landing in Southern France. Approximately 900 U.S. military dead are buried at this site and another approximately 300 are memorialized on its wall of the missing. Most of them lost their lives in the liberation of the South of France in August 1944.