Historical Background
In late May 1918, the German Army made a surprise attack along the Aisne River and advanced rapidly toward the Marne. Allied reinforcements were hurriedly brought up including the 2nd and 3rd American divisions which went into position directly across the German line of advance toward Paris. After severe fighting, these divisions definitely stopped the progress of the attack on their front and the lines stabilized the German forces having driven a deep salient, roughly defined by Reims, Chateau-Thierry, and Soissons into allied territory.
The last great German offensive of the war on July 15 included an attack in the Eastern part of this salient and there the 3rd American division and elements of the 28th were important factors in the successful defense of the allied positions.
On July 18, the Allied troops began a general counteroffensive against the whole salient in which the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 26th, and 32nd and 42nd American divisions, most of which served under the I and III American Corps took a brilliant part. This offensive was a complete success and by August 6, the enemy had been driven beyond the Vesle River. Later, the 4th, 28th, 32nd and 77th American divisions and elements of the 3rd and 93rd played a prominent role in the desperate fighting on and North of the Vesle. Of the 310,000 American soldiers who fought in these operations, 67,000 were casualties.
After World War I ended, families of the American War dead could repatriate the remains of their love dones home to United States or choose permanent interment in American military cemeteries abroad. Many chose to leave the fallen among their comrades, where they fought and died.
ABMC cemeteries in France are the final resting places of over 30,000 Americans who died in World war I. Walls of the MIssing honor nearly 4,000 additional individuals who were missing in action, or lost or buried at sea. In a solemn gesture of enduring friendship, the government of France freely granted the land on which American burial grounds and monuments sit.
Monument
To create a monument at Chateau-Thierry, the American Battle Monument Commission turned to an accomplished architect with ties to both France and America - and first had experience in the war. A native of France, Paul Philippe Cret established a successful architectural career in Philadelphia, but served his native country during the war.
Cret was a celebrates practitioner of New Classicism. His style- now referred to as “Stripped Classicism” - was characterized by machine like precision and restraint, but adhered to the classical ideals of proportion, balance and symmetry seen in ancient temples.
Cret believed the monument was a means of expression and that its design should clearly communicate the building's function. Situated on a commanading hilltop captured by French and American forces, Chateau-Thierry commemorates the battles fought nearby. Its symbolic figures and bilingual inscription celebrate the Franco-American alliance that made vistory possible.