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BROOKWOOD, England — Under the blustery English skies, the commander of the 7th Civil Support Command, Brig. Gen. Jimmie Jaye Wells, paid recognition during a Veterans Day observance to honor 468 American servicemembers who gave their lives defending freedom against European tyranny in the first World War.
The memories of 561 more Soldiers, Sailors and Marines missing in action or lost at sea with names inscribed on the Brookwood chapel wall were also eulogized.
Proudly representing the Army to the mainly British audience was the a 7th CSC honor guard of four Soldiers under the direction of Master Sgt. Kabaka Teague. Under her charge were Master Sgt. Michael Stewart, Staff Sgt. Jose Ruberte and Staff Sgt. David Arnold.
The memorial ceremony was also supported by a colorful cast of veterans and re-enactors of U.S. wars past. Enthusiasts in uniforms dating from the Civil War to the khaki campaign hats and puttees of Gen. John J. Pershing’s American Expeditionary Force helped to give the attendees a feeling for the long history of the U.S. military´s record of combat and determination.
As the volley fire of the doughboys’ Springfield rifles echoed through the trees before the playing of taps, they heralded the courage of those American Soldiers and Marines sent by President Woodrow Wilson to support a war-weary French and British army in their fight for liberty against the German army of Kaiser Wilhelm II.
The United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917, in reaction to repeated attacks on American ships and naval transports by German submarines. In less than two years, the American Army ballooned from an approximate 200,000 regular, Reserve and Guardsmen force to more than 2 million Soldiers. It was in World War I that the redoubtable American 1st, 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions, along with a great number of National Guard divisions, were made famous in the bloody battles of Verdun, Belleau Wood, The Marne, Argonne, Soissons and St. Mihiel.
The war ended with the armistice of Nov. 11, 1918. The United States suffered more than 300,000 casualties with more than 100,000 combat and non-combat deaths.
A dignitary from the American Legion, Roy Cochran, summarized the importance of Brookwood, and eight other U.S. cemeteries for the fallen of World War I stating that “the cemetery provides a venue to quietly consider the ultimate sacrifice given by Soldiers for our freedom in times past.’”
Brookwood American Cemetery is located on four and a half acres of wooded land about 28 miles southwest of London. The cemetery is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. excluding Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. Visitors may be guided to relatives’ graves upon request.
