About This Archive

The American Battle Graves Archive gathers the records of more than 200,000 U.S. servicemen who were killed or went missing during the First World War, the Second World War and the Korean War, and who are buried or memorialized on foreign soil. Officers and enlisted men, foreign scouts and nationals who served the United States — all are remembered here.

Our goal is simple: to make historical and genealogical information freely available to the public. For many families, a name and a war are all that remain of a relative who never came home. By bringing the public record together in one place — rank, unit, decorations, date of death and final resting place — we hope to help descendants, students and historians trace an individual story.

Sources & background of the data

The archive is built on public-domain records made available through U.S. government archives and other open resources. Our principal sources include the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), which cares for American military cemeteries and memorials abroad, and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

Historical records of this kind have passed through many stages of conversion over the decades — from handwritten cards to punch cards, to magnetic tape, to the databases of today. As a result some information may be incomplete, and some names may appear in more than one form. Where you find an error, we welcome corrections.

A note on respect

These are not statistics. Each entry represents a person, a family and a community changed forever. We present this material plainly and without commercial intrusion, in the belief that remembrance is a duty we owe to those who did not return.

Who publishes this archive

The American Battle Graves Archive is maintained by Hollow Oak Heritage Media, an independent team of historians, archival researchers and genealogists dedicated to preserving and presenting public-domain heritage records. You can read more about the people behind the archive on the Contributors page, or get in touch through our contact page.