We enjoyed another biking adventure today. The day was sunny and the weather mild, so we biked 4.5 miles to the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial. We weren’t sure what to expect, though the site was recommended by our homeowners.
The Google Map’s bike directions took us on some great bike/pedestrian trails. As we’ve said previously, Cambridge is a great biking town, which we really like. Great off-road trails makes the biking so much easier, and we only needed to be on the road for a short part of our route.
The cemetery exceeded our expectations. It is beautifully maintained. It had an impressive visitor center, chapel, and cemetery grounds. The land was donated by the University of Cambridge, and the US finished the site in 1954. My understanding is that the cemetery and memorial (and many others in Europe) is maintained by a US government agency, the American Battle Monuments Commission.
There are 3,812 gravesites for those whose remains were found and identified, and there is a wall of remembrance containing 5,127 names of individuals whose remains are not found/identified. As we walked the cemetery, we entered a row of tombstones, and the very first one was for a Charles Peck of California. No relation that we’re aware of.
Two of the more famous individuals listed on the Wall of Remembrance are Glenn Miller and Joseph P. Kennedy, who were both lost at sea.
The Wall of Remembrance is on the right.
Peckish Travels 