File:Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery - 51132640945.jpg

English: Sunrise and morning duties at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Belgium, March 14, 2021. ABMC photos: Jaunet Amandine

The mornings at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery hold Jaunet Amandine’s favorite moments. As one of the cemetery associates there for the American Battle Monuments Commission, Amandine is often on site before the gates open, preparing the grounds for visitors and soaking it all in. “To me it feels really quiet, you can really feel the place, the nature,” she said. The 57-acre cemetery in the eastern Belgium countryside sits on top of a large hill, so it has amazing sunrises and sunsets, too, Amandine said. Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, one of five locations in Belgium managed by the ABMC, is the final resting place for nearly 8,000 U.S. military fallen from World War II. Another 450 names of Americans missing in action are listed in the memorial plaza there. Most of those in the cemetery died as American forces pushed further into German territory, including the historic Battle of the Bulge fight. ABMC staffers raise the Stars and Stripes at both flagpoles, make sure the landscaping is neat and prepare headstones for visitors every morning, in addition to all of their other regular tasks required to keep the cemetery to a pristine standard. But it is the stillness of the mornings that Amandine likes most about her sacred place of work. “It is really impressive when you are alone in the cemetery and all is quiet,” she said. “You feel really small, but in a good way.”

- Learn more about the cemetery: www.abmc.gov/henri-chapelle

- Visual history of WWII: go.usa.gov/xsbMc