11 NOV 2013 - There are few places in Europe more humbling to visit than an American military cemetery. In lieu of the life we enjoy as Americans today, we feel these opportunities are important for our family to experience in order to show our appreciation for the ultimate sacrifice that so many of our countrymen have made. This Veterans Day, we visited Lorraine American Military Cemetery in France.
Lorraine American Military Cemetery, France
A beautiful inscription inside the cemetery.
The Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial in France covers 113.5 acres and contains the largest number of graves of our military dead of World War II in Europe, a total of 10,489. Their headstones are arranged in nine plots in a generally elliptical design extending over the beautiful rolling terrain of eastern Lorraine and culminating in a prominent overlook feature. Most of the dead here were killed while driving the German forces from the fortress city of Metz, France toward the Siegfried Line and the Rhine River. Initially, there were over 16,000 Americans interred in the St. Avold region in France, mostly from the U.S. Seventh Army's Infantry and Armored Divisions and its cavalry groups.
The five sculptured figures on the wall inside the cemetery chapel personify the eternal struggle for freedom. King David, Emperor Constantine, King Arthur, and George Washington reinforce the youthful figure in the center.
We were happy to spend this day surrounded
by 10,489 American heroes!
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