Triumph of the Dead: American World War II Cemeteries, Monuments, and Diplomacy in France

233 Pages·2018·6.282 MB·English

by  Kate Clarke Lemay

TRIUMPH of the DEAD
WAR, MEMORY, AND CULTURE
Series Editor
Steven Trout
Advisory Board
Joan Beaumont
Philip D. Beidler
John Bodnar
Patrick Hagopian
Mara Kozelsky
Edward T. Linenthal
Kendall R. Phillips
Kirk Savage
Jay Winter
Series published in cooperation with
http://www.southalabama.edu/departments/research/warandmemory/
Susan McCready, Content Editor
KATE CLARKE LEMAY
TRI UM PH
DE A D
OF THE
American World War II Cemeteries,
Monuments, and Diplomacy in France
The University of Alabama Press Tuscaloosa
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380
uapress.ua.edu
Copyright © 2018 by the University of Alabama Press
All rights reserved.
Inquiries about reproducing material from this work should be addressed
to the University of Alabama Press.
Typeface: Janson Text LT
Cover image: The Memorial Chapel of the Épinal American Cemetery,
1948–1952; courtesy of Kate Clarke Lemay
Cover design: Michele Myatt Quinn
This publication has been made possible through support from the
Terra Foundation for American Art International Publication Program
of the College Art Association.
Cataloging-in-Publication data is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN: 978-0-8173-1981-6
E-ISBN: 978-0-8173-9181-2
In memory of my parents

CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
1 Bodies of the Dead 21
2 Trauma in Normandy 41
3 Design and the Control of Memory 65
4 Militarism and Aesthetics 98
5 The Midcentury Shift in Style 121
Conclusion 146
Notes 151
Bibliography 183
Index 203

ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure 1. Norwood Thomas, Normandy, France, June 6, 2014 xiv
Figure 2. The temporary American cemeteries in Europe
(excluding Germany), 1944–1949 4
Figure 3. The permanent American war cemeteries in Europe and
North Africa, 1956–present 6
Figure 4. John Reekie, a burial party on the battlefield of Cold Harbor,
Virginia, April 1865 8
Figure 5. Bones in the crypt of the Ossuaire de Douaumont, Verdun 9
Figure 6. The temporary American war cemeteries in Normandy,
1944–1949 11
Figure 7. “Faux tombes,” for civilian dead, Saint-Marcouf, Manche,
Normandy 15
Figure 8. Monument to civilian dead, Saint-Lô, Manche, Normandy 16
Figure 9. Headquarters Building of the United Nations, New York City 19
Figure 10. Saint-Avold Temporary American Cemetery in transition to
becoming the permanent Lorraine American Cemetery,
July 1948 29
Figure 11. Norman women lay flowers of the graves of fallen Americans
in a temporary American cemetery in Normandy, 1944 31
Figure 12. Norman girl places a second set of flowers on one of the
first American graves made at temporary American cemetery 32
Figure 13. School children decorate graves with flags and flowers to
commemorate the first anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 1946 33