American War Memorials Overseas, Inc.

09/07/2026

Today we remember 2LT Robert Lee Garrett of the 466th Bomber Group 'the Flying Deck" who died on September 7, 1944 whose grave is a Isolated Burial in Beyne-Heusay, Belgium.

2LT Robert "Bobby" L. Garrett, of Norman, Oklahoma was a Navigator serving in the 785th Bomber Squadron, 466th Bomber Group of the 8th Air Force flying out of Attlebridge, Norfolk, UK (Station 120). On March 23, 1944 while flying in B-24 (42-52587) "Shoo Shoo Baby", Garrett along with a few other crew members survived a crash and were saved by local resistance forces in the Netherlands. He was later transferred to Belgium Resistance, known as the "Comet Line" and lived with a family near Liege, Belgium. Garrett was befriended by the family and with the Allies nearing the liberation of Liege, Garrett was shot and killed by the retreating enemy on September 7, 1944. He was buried in the cemetery of his new Belgium friends. Post-war his family requested he remain buried in this Belgian cemetery.

See our website for this Isolated Burial:

https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=2211&MemID=2912

He is also remembered on the 466th Bomber Group "Roll of Honor located in Weston, Longville, UK:

https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=3660&MemID=5131

Search our website for other Isolated Burials by selecting Isolated Burials under category in the search drop down.

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09/03/2026

Today we remember the formal surrender of Japanese Forces in Luzon, Philippines on September 3, 1945. A Philippines Historical Marker in Kiangan remembers this event.

See our website for more on this memorial:

https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=2327&MemID=3049

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08/28/2026

Today we remember the the Air Crews of the 2nd Bomber Group who fell during the "Air Battle over the White Carpathian Mountains" that occurred on August 29, 1944.

On August 29, 2944, the 15th Air Force conducted "Mission 263", a raid on the Moravska Ostrava industrial complex (current-day city of Ostrava). Nine B-17Gs from the 2nd Bomber Group were attacked by 89 German fighters, and 20 minutes later, eight of them were shot down and crashed in Slovakia (1), the Czech Republic (7), and one crashed and landed in Hungary. 41 US airmen lost their lives, 28 of them were buried in a mass grave in Slavicin. Four fliers evaded capture, and 55 airmen ended up in German POW camps. All the planes of the 20th Bomber Squadron were shot down that day.

Check out these memorials (Memorials, Museums, Cenotaphs , Sculptures and Markers) located in the Czech Republic and Slovakia by doing the Keyword search on or website and search "Mission 263".

Here is the Slavicin Mass Grave Cenotaph:

https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=3361&MemID=4686

A couple of the memorials:

https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=3384&MemID=4698

https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=3396&MemID=4718

Special thanks to Mission 263 - Aug 29,1944 / Letecká bitva 29.8.1944 page & group for remembering this battle and for the several memorials that remember this mission.

08/27/2026

Today we added the 5000th memorial on our website! Thanks to all of you who have helped us document and preserving the memory of those remembered on the memorials.

The 5000th memorial added is a plaque remembering the importance an Irish lighthouse - Blacksod Lighthouse and the lighthouse keepers and the role they played in providing weather data to the Operation Overlord D-Day decision-makers.

The Lighthouse Keeper, Maureen Sweeney was remembered by the US Congress in 2021 for her deeds.

See this memorial here:

https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=3653&MemID=5123

and it is located here in Ireland:

https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/site_details.php?SiteID=3653

Check out this and many, many more on our website:

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08/18/2026

Today we remember the Raid on Makin Island on 17-18 August 1942 conducted by Lieutenant Colonel Evans F. Carlson's 2nd Raider Battalion- USMC. This memorial is located on the Parade Field on Kwajalein Atoll not far from where 9 of these Marines were executed in October 1942.

Major James Roosevelt, son of FDR, received a Navy Cross citation for his efforts during the raid, and SGT Clyde A. Thomason posthumously received a Medal of Honor. Thomason was the first enlisted Marine to receive the Medal of Honor during World War II.

Check our website for more on this memorial:

https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=2290&MemID=5106

The location and other memorials on Kwajalein Atoll:

https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/site_details.php?SiteID=2290

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08/15/2026

Today we remember the landings as part of Operation Anvil- Dragoon that began on August 15, 1944 in Southern France. Check out the many memorial remembering this operation on our website by doing a "Keyword" search (Upper right corner of the website page) and enter Operation Anvil Dragoon.

Our website home page: https://www.uswarmemorials.org

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08/12/2026

On August 12, 1944, LT Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., USNR, the older brother of John F. Kennedy, was killed with his co-pilot in a mid-air explosion after taking off from England in Special Attack Unit One (SAU-1) as part of Operation Anvil & Aphrodite. Following manual takeoff, they were supposed to parachute out over the English Channel while the radio-controlled explosive filled drone proceeded to attack a German V-2 missile-launching site. Possible causes include faulty wiring or FM signals from a nearby transmitter.

For more about this incident, see our website for a memorial to Joseph Kennedy:

https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=898&MemID=1206

A special exhibit to Joseph Kennedy is also located at the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum in Flixation, UK: See more about museum on our website:

https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=2203&MemID=2904

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08/08/2026

Today we remember the sinking of the USS Hamilton & USS Scourge during the War of 1812 on August 8, 1813. The ships and crew are remembered in Hamilton, Canada in the War of 1812 Memorial Garden.

On 8 August 1813, two American naval schooners, USS Hamilton and USS Scourge, sank in a violent and sudden squall on Lake Ontario, off the shoreline near present-day St. Catharines.

Eight men survived from each of the ships, but 53 men lost their lives when both went down around 2am.
Both ships had originally been merchant schooners; the Hamilton had originally been an American ship called the 'Diana' that was bought by the US Navy; and the Scourge had been a British ship called 'The Lord Nelson' that was seized by American authorities in 1812 on suspicion of being involved in smuggling. Both were converted into US Navy vessels when war broke out.

The site includes 53 cenotaphs and several information signs.

Check out the memorial on our website at:
https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=3572&MemID=4985

Search for other War of 1812 memorials by using our search function (upper right corner of the website) and select War of 1812.

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06/23/2026

Check out this podcast by the MacArthur Memorial with the Founder and Director of American War Memorials Overseas, Lillian Pfluke. Lillian discusses the some 700+ memorials remembering WW1 Overseas.

Find the podcast at this website:

https://www.macarthurmemorial.org/491/World-War-I-Podcast

From the MacArthur Memorial:

In this latest episode of the World War I Podcast, we are joined by Lillian Pfluke, a retired U.S. Army major and a member of the pioneering first class of women to graduate from West Point in 1980. After her military career, she spent ten years working for the American Battle Monuments Commission as the Private Memorials Administrator of the European Region before founding American War Memorials Overseas, an organization dedicated to identifying and preserving the thousands of U.S. war memorials found around the world. In this conversation, we discussed the many private World War I memorials overseas, what they commemorate, and why they continue to matter more than a century later.

Learn more about American War Memorials Overseas.

Links to photos of memorials discussed:
WWI Medal of Honor awardee in Montenegro: https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=1379&MemID=1812
Dudley Tucker: https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=155&MemID=235
Aviation Training Center Monument with 171 training accident death: https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=614&MemID=897&keyword=paudy
Is-sur-Tille: https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=227&MemID=350&keyword=is+sur+tille
Murville link: https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=483&MemID=750

Produced by the MacArthur Memorial, the World War I History Podcast explores the history of the war from a variety of perspectives.

12/30/2025

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