A full accounting for our soldier dead who remain on foreign shores. A wonderful and very caring read which covers our boys in France AND the North Russia Expeditionary Force. Chris has done some excellent work and is another inspiration to us here. 

United States World War I Centennial Commission 

A treasure by any standard. This is a reader's gem, the kind of book one finds by chance with surprises and tidbits that make turning each page an unforgettable pleasure. I found myself metering the reading to prolong the effect.

Charles A. Krohn, American Battle Monuments Commission, Ret.

ABMC – The families of those killed in two world wars were given the option of leaving their loved ones buried abroad, or returning them for burial in the United States. Approximately 40% of those killed in both wars were left abroad and buried in cemeteries of The American Battle Monuments Commission. Its database is searchable by name

AOMDA, Belgium – The American Overseas Memorial Day Association, Belgium plays a leading role in memorial to Americans buried in three ABMC cemeteries, and researches Americans buried in known isolated graves across Belgium. Each is visited with a ceremony on the American Memorial Day weekend. 

Canada – The city of Halifax, Nova Scotia supports Deadman's Island, a cemetery of approximately 185 Amerians imprisoned there in the War of 1812. 

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission, based in London, oversees the graves of approximately 3,600 Americans who served in two world wars with the Commonwealth Forces. Its database is searchable by name, and sometimes describes the circumstances in which the soldier was killed, and offers other information. 

England – All known American burials from the War of 1812 are accounted for by historians in Plymouth and Princetown, England who also advocate for their conservation. They are assisted by the U.S. group the Daughters of the War of 1812, and honored on all American Memorial Days. 

Lafayette Escadrille Memorial – Several hundred Americans flew under French command in World War I. Many entered what was variously called the Lafayette or American Escadrille through the French Foreign Legion. At the end of the war, French and American interests worked together to create the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial in a suburb of Paris. Sixty-eight Americans are buried in the Memorial’s crypts, and are honored with solemn ceremonies each American Memorial Day. 

Libya – The locations of graves of thirteen American officers and sailors killed in 1804 are known in some cases and speculated upon in others. One of those buried in a location approximately known, Richard Somers, has the continuing focus of the people of his hometown, Somers Point, New Jersey, who want to bring his body home. 

Russia – “Detroit’s Own” Polar Bear Memorial Day Association researches and advocates for approximately thirty Americans of the North Russian Expeditionary Force in World War I who are still missing near Archangel, Russia. Most were residents of the Detroit area. 

Spain – The Madrid Council of the Navy League of the United States advocates for the continued maintenance of a mid-nineteenth century naval cemetery at Menorca Island. 

In addition, the graves of individual American war dead are tended in the Netherlands, Denmark and Mexico. An attempt to find the graves of those once officially buried then lost in the Pacific is ongoing. The graves of a number of American Civil War veterans known to be buried in Australia are tended by organizations in that country.

The author's contribution is that he has gathered together information formerly available in newspaper and magazine articles scattered over a century. His documentation, excellent bibliography, good index and well-chosen photographs are all assets and a lucid and terse writing style makes this an easy, enjoyable read. No other book covers this topic. Consequently, it will find a place in all graduate university libraries and colleges with strong history and political science programs. Community colleges will find this a desirable but not essential work. Highly recommended. 

Choice Connect, American Library Association

A thorough and in-depth account of Americans who have fought and died under the banners of foreign powers during the first half of the twentieth century. The author presents a painstakingly researched collection of personal stories and government records that intertwines tens of thousands of American-born combatants with some of the greatest military struggles of the last century. 

Maj. Lance B. Brender, U.S. Army