Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial
| Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial | |
|---|---|
| Battle Monuments Commission | |
 Oise-Aisne | |
| Used for those deceased World War I | |
| Established | 1918. (Concentration cemetery 1921) |
| Location | 49°12′8″N 3°32′54″E / 49.20222°N 3.54833°E near |
| Designed by | Cram & Ferguson, Boston, Ma. George Gibbs, Jr. (LANDSCAPE) |
| Total burials | 6012 |
Unknowns | 597 |
| Commemorated | 241 |
| Statistics source: Cemetery booklet | |
The Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial (French pronunciation:
A graveyard for former soldiers that were dishonorably discharged and executed for crimes committed during World War II, referred to as Plot E, is nearby. Private Eddie Slovik (1920–1945 
), the only American soldier executed for desertion during World War II, was buried there until 1987.
Site
The Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial lies one and a half miles east of Fère-en-Tardenois, Aisne, Picardy, France and about 14 miles (23 km) northeast of Château-Thierry. It is approximately 70 miles (110 km) northeast of Paris.
The grounds extend to 36.5 acres (14.8 ha) and this is the second of eight large permanent American World War I military cemeteries that are not in the United States. It was initially established on August 2, 1918 by the
The cemetery is generally rectangular in shape. The chapel, museum and grave plots are one side of the road and a parking area and the service facilities on the other side. The plots are divided by a walkway with a circular island of grass in the middle. The sides of the cemetery include paths, a privet hedge, and a low stone wall.
War dead buried at this site
Most of the 6,013 soldiers and support personnel honorably interred at this site died fighting during the
596 graves at this site are for unknown soldiers. Like the
- HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY
- AN AMERICAN SOLDIER
- KNOWN BUT TO GOD[1]
The memorial
At the far end of the cemetery there is a semi-circular memorial of marble and
- THESE ENDURED ALL AND GAVE ALL
- THAT HONOR AND JUSTICE MIGHT PREVAIL AND
- THAT THE WORLD MIGHT ENJOY FREEDOM AND INHERIT PEACE[1]
The rear of the monument identifies the American Battle Monuments Commission and the architects. On the friese and the exterior walls of the chapel and museum are 23 carved shields representing the branch and service insignia that served in this region of France, and the museum and chapel both include stylized versions of the Great Seal of the United States.
The names of 241 American soldiers missing in the area who were never found or whose bodies were never identified are inscribed on the walls of the chapel. The museum includes a dedicatory relief in English and French as well as a large map of the Aisne-Marne region.
Plot E
The cemetery also contains an area known as Oise-Aisne American Cemetery Plot E, which contains the remains of the "dishonorable dead"—96 Americans who were dishonorably discharged from the US Army before being executed for crimes of rape or murder.[2] Plot E is separate from the main cemetery, in an area secluded by hedges and accessible only through a door in the superintendent's office.
Gallery
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The Memorial. -
Entrance of Oise-Aisne Cemetery.
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial" (PDF). American Battle Monuments Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-08-13. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
- ^ "John Edgar Wideman Against the World". nytimes.com. Retrieved 2017-02-17.
- Sledge, Michael (2005). Soldier Dead: How We Recover, Identify, Bury, and Honor Our Military Fallen. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 204. OCLC 60527603.
