Note: This is guest post by Richard Sherman, the author and photographer of Never Home: Remembering the Military Heroes Who Never Returned

The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) manages and maintains 23 overseas WWI and WWII cemeteries. Many Americans are familiar with Normandy American Cemetery, but there are another 11 in France, including Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery with those who battled in the famous Meuse-Argonne offensive in World War I. Manila America Cemetery is the largest (by burials) with 17,097 headstones and 36,931 on the Walls of the Missing. Cemeteries are also located in Belgium, Italy, England, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Tunisia. In total, more than 207,000 individuals are remembered in our overseas world war cemeteries.

Aisne-Marne American Cemetery (France)Aisne-Marne American Cemetery,located just an hour’s drive northeast of Paris, spans 42 acres and includes 2,289headstones and the names of1,060 on the Wall of the Missing. Intense fighting in Belleau Wood took place in June 1918 as Germany launched its last major offensive or WWI. The actual woods can be seen behind the chapel in the adjacent photograph. Belleau Woodlives in the proud legacy of the United States Marine Corps. It was here on June2, 1918 that USMC Captain Lloyd Williams, commanding the 51st Company,2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment,encountered French soldiers in rapid retreat. Upon receiving direction from a French Colonel to also retreat, the Marine Officer uttered the famous reply, “Retreat,hell! We just got here.” Captain Williams would be killed in combat just nine days later.

As a former Navy officer and Gulf War veteran, and as a professional photographer, I embarked on a six-year journey of gratitude in 2018 to visit and photograph all 23 WWI and WWII cemeteries located on three continents.

75th Commemoration of D-Day Landings Normandy American Cemetery June 6, 2019The famed Normandy American Cemetery is located 175 miles west of Paris and spans 172.5 acres. Among the 1,557 names on the Tablets of the Missing and 9,387headstones are 45 sets of brothers and three Medal of Honor recipients. The cemetery rests above Omaha Beach where 34,000 Allied troops came ashore on D-Day in the bloody battles that began the liberation of France.It was dedicated in July, 1956.

Working with top industry consultants and design firms, I published, "Never Home: Remembering the Military Heroes Who Never Returned" in April 2024, which includes more than 225 images and 54 biographies. I was honored to have the Foreword written by VADM Doug Crowder (Ret.), the former Commander of the 7th Fleet for the US Navy. The book is not a history book, but is intended to recount the sacrifice that individuals and families made during the world wars. Included among the biographies are some names you know, like BGEN Teddy Roosevelt, Jr. and GEN George S. Patton, but also dozens of individuals you never heard of such as Wilma Vinsant and Charles Summers. They all deserve to be remembered.

2LT Charles Summers Army Air Corps & Royal Air Force2LT Charles Summers Army Air Corps & Royal Air Force May 4, 1942 Netherlands American CemeteryCharles L. Summers was the first American to die in combat overseas during World War II. He served as an Observer on board the Royal Air Force’s(RAF) Lockheed Hudson V AM530reconnaissance planes. Summers graduated from the University of. California, Berkeley in 1940 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. In August 1941,he joined the Army Reserve’s Signal Corps and was transferred to the Army Air Corps to become a radar specialist. Hewas sent to England in October 1941 to support the RAF. On May 4, 1942, he was on a five-man sortie searching for German U-boats off the coast of the Netherlands as part of RAF Squadron 53 when their plane was shot down. All five bodies washed ashore, with Summers’ body recovered on June 27th at Egmond aan Zee (Netherlands). Charles Summers was 24 years old.

The book has three chapters that follow the emotional journey one would take on visiting any of these cemeteries. The first chapter, “In the Company of Heroes” incorporates beautiful images that convey the positive emotions we experience when entering these hallowed grounds.

North Africa American Cemetery (Tunisia)The cemetery is located in Tunis, Tunisia and is the final resting place of 2,833 of our fallen heroes. It is one of the few cemeteries where the number of individuals on the Walls of the Missing (3,724) outnumber the headstones. Most individuals memorialized here fought across North Africa—from Oran and Algiers to Tunisia and Egypt. Among the fallen are Captain Floyd Draper, an A-20Battack bomber pilot who was also an Olympic Gold Medalist, having run in the4x100 relay with Jesse Owens in Berlin in1936. North Africa American Cemetery was established in 1948.

The second chapter, “A Walk Among the Headstones” includes 54 biographies, along with the photos of each headstone and the individual who perished. This corresponds to the intimate connections we make as we walk in front of the crosses and Stars of David and reflect on the individuals and their lives.

Wilma Vinsant, Flight Nurse, 806th Medical Air EvacuationWilma Vinsant was a flight nurse from San Benito, TX. In April,1945 she had just completed all her required missions and had earned her ticket home. She spent nearly three years as part of the 806thMedical Air Evacuation Squadron (MAES)that brought wounded soldiers back to hospitals in England and the US. On April14th, she requested permission for one more flight so that one of her fellow nurses could go to a party. The C-47Dakota that carried Wilma Vinsant on her final flight crashed over Germany, killing all six crew members aboard. In early1945, she married US Army MAJ Walter Shea in Berkshire, England, and then celebrated her 28th birthday on February17, 1945. Vinsant is one of 17 Army flight nurses to have died on active duty in Europe during World War II.

In the final chapter, “Taps,” the images become progressively darker. This corresponds to the sadness we feel as we are reminded of the toll these wars took on individuals and families, and as we realize that these brave Americans left the comforts of home to fight for freedom, and even today have never made it home.

Headstone of GEN George Patton December 21, 1945 Luxembourg American CemeteryLuxembourg American Cemetery and is the final resting place of GEN Patton as well as five members of Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment,the paratroopers honored in Steven Ambrose’s book, movie and series, “Band of Brothers.” Many of the nearly 5,500individuals memorialized here fought in the Battle of the Bulge during the bitterly cold winter of 1944-1945. A temporary cemetery was originally established herein December 1944 and was formally dedicated in July 1960. GEN Patton, who was paralyzed in a vehicle crash in Bavaria in December 1945, was laid to rest at Luxembourg American Cemetery on Christmas Eve 1945.

The book is available now at https://neverhomeheroes.etsy.com. You can learn more about "Never Home: Remembering the Military Heroes Who Never Returned,” including how the project started, the timeline of cemetery visits, and see sample images at https://www.neverhomeheroes.com/index.

Epinal American Cemetery (France)Epinal American Cemetery is located in France and has 5,255 headstones and424 individuals listed on the Wall of the Missing. It was dedicated on July 23,1956. After the American Seventh Army landed on the Mediterranean shores of Southern France in mid-August, US and Allied forces pushed northward and on September 11, 1944 met up with the US Third Army which had battled westward from Normandy. Many of the individuals memorialized here fought through the autumn on 1944 and ensuing winter,crossing the Moselle River, eliminating the Colmar Pocket before crossing into Germany.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Richard Sherman is a full-time professional photographer and the author of “Never Home: Remembering the Military Heroes Who Never Returned.” Using principally the language of photography, the book honors the more than 207,000 individuals who died in WWI and WWII and who are interred in America’s 23 overseas military cemeteries (e.g., Normandy, etc.). Rich is a former Navy Officer and Gulf War Veteran, and his photography business operates as a certified veteran-owned small business. You can see his work at RichardShermanPhotography.com, and learn more about this book at NeverHomeHeroes.com.