Mardasson Memorial
The Mardasson Memorial or Mardasson Monument is a memorial on Mardasson Hill. It was built in 1950, is located three kilometers northeast of the center of the Walloon village of Bastogne and commemorates the 76,890 American soldiers who were wounded, killed or missing in the Battle of the Bulge . The road from the center to the monument is called 'Liberation Road'.
history
The Mardasson Memorial was built in 1950. It stands as a token of the Belgians' gratitude for the liberation of their country by the American troops and the Allies .
The erection of the memorial was proposed in 1945 by the Belgian-American Society (ABA), a body of prominent Belgian personalities. They wanted to remember the innumerable young Americans who went to war and risked or given their lives for the liberation of Belgium.
On July 4, 1946, the mayor of Bastogne dug some earth at the place where the monument was to be built later and packed it in a box made of malachite , which was sealed in the presence of the American ambassador. It was flown in an ebony envelope on a special aircraft (a Sabena DC4 ) to Washington, where the Belgian deputy defense minister presented it to US President Harry Truman .
The inauguration took place on July 16, 1950. In addition to dignitaries from Belgium and the United States, members of the government from Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, numerous veterans' associations, the architect Georges Dedoyard and the client Félicien Calay were also present .
The memorial plaque erected earlier received the following text:
- LIBERATORIBUS AMERICANIS
- POPVLVS BELGICVS MEMOR
- IV.VII.MCMXLVI
(Translation: In memory of the liberation of the Belgian people by the Americans. July 4th 1946)
layout
Like the stars of the US flag, the monument has the shape of a pentagram with sides of 31 m and a height of 12 m. In its center there is a circular gallery with a diameter of 20 m, which is surrounded on all sides with columns.
There is a tour on the upper platform. At each of the five corners of the star-shaped building there is a stone table with a map of the area engraved on it and showing the various stages of the Battle of the Bulge. The 50 states of the USA are each engraved on the upper edge, even if Alaska and Hawaii were only US territories until 1959. The badges of the US divisions involved in the Battle of the Bulge can be found along the outside. On the inside, the course of the fight is described on ten inscriptions.
A crypt was built into the hill to commemorate the 76,890 fallen, injured or missing American soldiers . There are three altars for Catholic, Protestant and Jewish worship. The mosaics made in the crypt are the work of the French artist Fernand Léger .
Others
In Recogne , six kilometers north of Bastogne, there is a German military cemetery. There are 6,807 members of the Wehrmacht. Fallen in World War II.
Web links
- Information from the American Army on the Mardasson Memorial (PDF file; 65 kB)
- Bastogne Historical Center website
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 50 ° 0 ′ 33.7 " N , 5 ° 44 ′ 20.3" E