A German shell's hole in the Memorial Chapel

If you peer at the right wall of the Memorial Chapel, you see the small hole left by a German anti-tank gun. The chapel is built over the site of front-line battle trenches dug in defense of Belleau Wood.

The cemetery is laid out in the form of the capital letter T. The pathway leading into the cemetery makes up the stem of the letter-shape, while the two cross-bars define the two burial plots. This cemetery sits at the base of the hill where the Battle of Belleau Wood occurred, and it also houses the fallen from the Battle of Château-Thierry.

There are 2,289 burials in this soil, including 250 individuals who remain unidentified. Above the inside entrance door sits an inscription for those missing in action. The walls list 1,060 soldiers who never returned home, marking a list of people resting in those unknown graves.

The American Battle Monuments Commission maintains the 42-acre grounds. You can wander to see the monuments for the Marines and the Château-Thierry memorial, and find the grave of the Medal of Honor recipient Weedon Osborne.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons