Flanders Field American Cemetery
This World War I cemetery in Belgium includes the graves of nearly 370 war dead, and more than 40 names on the Walls of the Missing.
Some 50 miles west of Brussels is Flanders Field American Cemetery.
It is the only American World War I military cemetery in Belgium.
The burial grounds and surrounding area lie on a battlefield where the U.S. 37th and 91st Divisions suffered heavy casualties, capturing valuable terrain in the closing weeks of the war.
Nearly 370 Americans are buried here; all told, over a thousand Americans gave their lives in the final offensive to liberate Belgium.
It is now a peaceful site.
Graceful trees and flowering shrubs frame the cemetery, providing a garden for quiet contemplation.
The building at the entrance of the cemetery houses a visitor center.
The exhibits tell the story of the American Army in Belgium during World War I.
The white stone chapel has an altar of brilliantly-patterned marble; above, a sword filled with gold leaf is carved into the wall.
On the side walls, panels list the names of more than 40 American soldiers missing in action.
A ceiling mosaic overhead depicts doves of peace flying toward a lighted oil lamp, under the stars of Heaven.
The celebrated poem "In Flanders Fields" was composed near Ypres in an ambulance by Lt. Colonel John McCrae, just after the wartime funeral of a friend and fellow soldier in 1915.
It begins: "In Flanders fields, the poppies blow / Between the crosses, row on row…"