The American Battle Monuments Commission launches year-long centennial anniversary commemoration

Photo By Michael Shipman | The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) Secretary Charles K. Djou responds to media questions during the agency’s centennial launch event at the National Press Club in Washington D.C., on Dec. 14, 2022. In March 2023, ABMC will commemorate the centennial anniversary of its mission to honor the service, achievements, and sacrifice of U.S. Armed Forces. Photo by Mike Shipman/American Battle Monuments Commission  

WASHINGTON, D.C., DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES

12.14.2022

Story by Helene Chaulin 

American Battle Monuments Commission

The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), the agency tasked in 1923 with operating and preserving America’s overseas military cemeteries and memorials, launched its year-long centennial anniversary commemoration Dec. 14, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

“ABMC represents 100 years of an unbroken promise to this nation, her fallen and their families,” said ABMC Secretary Charles K. Djou. “Every person who died in wartime service deserves to be remembered and accounted for, and through the commemoration of American military service, sacrifice, and achievements, ABMC remains committed to fulfilling that promise as we enter into our next hundred years.”

Led by the agency’s chief of historical services, Mike Knapp, Djou and ABMC Chairman, retired Army Lt. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, discussed ABMC’s history and progress toward the future. The ABMC also unveiled a first look at content from ABMC’s upcoming documentary, to be released in 2023. Through the words of families of the fallen, interpretive guides, cemetery caretakers and other ABMC staff, the film showcases the agency’s ongoing work to preserve the legacy of those memorialized at its sites as well as the evolution of our mission into a new century of service.

ABMC will host a number of centennial events in 2023, which includes both a 100-year anniversary commemoration and documentary film premiere in Washington, D.C.; a documentary film tour at locations throughout the U.S.; special overseas commemorative events; the release of a 100th anniversary photographic anthology of the ABMC produced in partnership with the Smithsonian; the introduction of a new virtual 360 tour platform of ABMC sites; grand opening of a new visitor center at the Netherlands American Cemetery; and more.

“Being able to highlight these kinds of stories for an international audience and those in the U.S. is an important part of our mission moving forward,” said Hertling. “We hope to tell the ABMC story with passion and historical relevance, which is in many ways the story of those who fought and died for our values and the common desire all mankind has for freedom and liberty.”

To learn more about ABMC, visit our website at www.abmc.gov.

• Date Taken: 12.14.2022
• Date Posted: 12.16.2022 12:06
• Story ID: 435337
• Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, US