At the foot of Belleau Wood, the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery preserves one of the most iconic landscapes of American memory from World War I. The cemetery contains the graves of 2,289 American service members who fought in the Marne region during the summer of 1918. Although closely associated with the Marines of Belleau Wood, the majority of those buried here served in the U.S. Army. Designed as both cemetery and pilgrimage site, the memorial chapel includes the names of 1,060 missing Americans and overlooks the surrounding battlefield landscape. During World War II, heavy fighting again damaged the chapel. One shell hole intentionally remains preserved as a reminder that war returned to this landscape a generation later.

The battlefield became memory.

Decorative carvings throughout the chapel depict trench warfare, maps, machine guns, and frontline equipment. These scenes connected remembrance directly to the experiences of those who fought across the surrounding battlefield landscape. More than a century later, visitors still travel to Belleau Wood and Aisne-Marne to reflect, learn, and stand in the places where Americans fought and died.