New London library screens ‘Hallowed Grounds’

Film visits overseas military cemeteries

The New London Public Library will screen “Hallowed Grounds” at 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 22.

This PBS documentary visits 22 American military cemeteries in eight countries, memorializing those who were not brought back to the United States after World War I and World War II.

These cemeteries, created and maintained by the U.S. government through the American Battle Monuments Commission, are permanent memorial sites.

Collectively they contain the remains of 125,000 Americans. There are 94,000 more names commemorated on Walls of the Missing.

Dignified and serene, they were created to honor America’s fallen, but they are also intended to inspire and teach the living.

Most of the cemeteries are located on or near major battlefields. The narrative provides a general history of the wars and briefly recounts the battles and operations that took place in the areas where the cemeteries are located.

Among the fallen profiled in the show are poet Joyce Kilmer, bandleader Glenn Miller, the five Sullivan Brothers and Gen. George S. Patton. But most were ordinary men and women caught up in the calamity of war.

Following the one-hour documentary, the library will host a Remembering Our Veterans craft project.