The North Africa American Cemetery

[expedition_retirement]

On our last day in Tunisia, we visited the North Africa American Cemetery in Carthage. Located not far from the archeological site of ancient Carthage, this solemn cemetery is the final resting place for more than 2,800 American soldiers and sailors who died in North Africa during World War II. When we arrived, we were met by a representative of the American Battlefield Monuments Commission, who would be our guide around the site.

The 27 acre cemetery has nine plots, with the cross and Star-of-David shaped head stones arranged in precise rows, as is typical for these military cemeteries. Our guide showed us a few notable graves, including that of the only Medal of Honor recipient buried here.

We also saw the wall of the missing, which lists the names of all the soldiers and sailors from the North Africa campaign whose bodies were never recovered. There are more than 3,700 names on that wall, organized by service branch. We also saw a monument to the unknown dead (this is not a tomb of an unknown--there is no body there).

There is also a gallery with a large map detailing the battles and movements of the North Africa campaign, and a dedication wall with text in French, English, and Arabic.