Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial — Attraction in South Cambridgeshire

I have visited this place 3 times, twice for Memorial Day ceremonies and been very moved and extremely impressed. The last time was in 2015 when we planned my bucket list trip to Ireland & Scotland around the Memorial Day ceremony. My father was a navigator in the 489th BG and was killed over St Lo, France in July 1944 when I was an infant. When we went there in 2015 I was given the honor of presenting the wreath from the Friends of the 489th BG to be placed at the Wall of the Missing at the end of the ceremony. I had waited many years to see the places in Ireland & Scotland but presenting that wreath was the biggest thrill of that trip. The cemetery is perfectly maintained and manicured and has a new Visitors center. Another thrill was that after finding our seats for the ceremony next to the Wall of the Missing I looked up and saw we were right next to the panel that held Glenn Miller's name. His birth name was Alton Glenn Miller, I knew that and I realized that the Alton G Miller, Major USAAF was actually him. His music meant so much to the men and women serving in WW2 and I grew up hearing the Miller records my father had bought before he was shipped out. Shortly before my father was killed Malor Miller and the USAAF Orchestra/Band gave a concert at Holton Airfield where my father was stationed in exchange for transport to another concert. There is a lot of history here and fascinating, but tragic, personal stories. Check out Lt. Col. Leon Vance, Medal of Honor recipient and Deputy Commander of the 489th BG. Vance AFB in Oklahoma was named for him. Check Google and you will...

It was Memorial Day, 2019. I had been given the great honor of laying the wreath in honor of the 357th Fighter Group which had been stationed at the Steeple Morden air field during WWII. My brother, Charles M. Lee, was a member of the 357th FG as a P-51 pilot (KIA 8-8-44/France) and this was my first opportunity to tour the site of the former airfield and then the cemetery. To have been able to lay the wreath, along with the 100+ other wreath layers, was a most moving experience. To gaze upon the more than 7,000 names engraved upon the wall of those who are MIA gave me tears, as did looking out over the exquisitely-tended burial grounds of the more than 3,000 resting there. This hallowed place should give pause to those who think of WAR in abstract. It is not ... it is up close and personal. I extend my thanks to those who tend this cemetery in which are listed and buried those who gave their lives so that we...

Three and a half thousand military personnel and a few civilians are buried here in this cemetry from WWII. Another five thousand are reported as missing. This whole site is dedicated to the memory of these service personnel from rows A to G. The Memorial building is huge and is very carefully inscribed. There is a chime that rings out on the hour in a military tune. You have a sense of reverant respect as you walk around these grounds. Many of these personnel fought from UK bases. The whole area is very well maintained. It has very tidy walkways. There is no litter anywhere. You really need to come and visit as this review cannot do this cemetry justice as it has to be seen and experienced first hand. There is also a visitors centre left of the main entrance. Inside the Memorial building is a chapel where the public are permitted to enter and reflect, closing behind the them the...