Belleau Wood was the scene of a desperate struggle by the novice American Army to counter attack the German advances made in May 1918. Their victory gained, the American Army buried its fallen in a sweeping curve at the base of the hill on which the wood stands It contains the graves of 2,289 American Dead, most of whom fought in the vicinity and in the Marne valley in the summer of 1918. U.S. Cemetery Belleau, France Shown in 1919 U.S. Cemetery Belleau, France Shown Today
The tragedy of Belleau Wood was that the Americans insisted on using the full-frontal attacks that the British had learned not to use after the Somme and Passchendaele, and would not take advice to the contrary. Therefore they (the US Marine Corps) lost far more men than was necessary. It is said that a British liaison officer, a Somme veteran, wept as he saw them advancing directly into the German machine-guns .
