US Marines’ bravery celebrated 100 years after French battle

Associated Press

BELLEAU, France

High-ranking military officials from the United States, France and Germany took part in Memorial Day ceremonies at an American cemetery in France on Sunday to mark the centennial of the battle of Belleau Wood, a turning point in World War I and a key moment in U.S. Marine Corps history.

The ceremony at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in the village of Belleau featured speeches Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller and other military officials, prayers, wreath-laying, poem readings and the national anthems of the three countries.

More than 5,000 people attended the event to commemorate the fierce, monthlong battle, which is considered the first major engagement of U.S. troops in the war. Belleau Wood, where Marines helped Allied Forces secure victory, also helped to establish the prestige and reputation for bravery of the Marine Corps overseas.

Rear Admiral Brent Scott, chaplain of the U.S. Marine Corps, said the battle was a “critical turning point” for the Corps.

Most of the 2,289 American soldiers, including 474 Marines, buried in the Belleau cemetery died in the French northern Aisne-Marne region in 1918. More than a thousand other servicemen are memorialized and honored by name on Walls of the Missing.

The June 1918 battle in and outside the Belleau Wood and the decisive engagement of the U.S. forces became a defining moment in WWI by containing a break by German troops through the Western Front and foiling their push toward Paris.

After the hostilities of World War I ended with the Armistice on Nov 11, 1918, many American families faced the decision of whether to bring their dead home or to have them buried where they fell.

Despite the distance and the decades that have passed, the service members still are honored each year for Memorial Day.