The American Battle Monuments Commission, established by Congress in 1923, is an agency of the executive branch of the federal government. ABMC — guardian of America’s overseas commemorative cemeteries and memorials — honors the service, achievements and sacrifice of U.S. Armed Forces.

The ABMC administers, operates and maintains 26 permanent American burial grounds and 32 separate memorials, monuments and markers, on foreign soil. It also maintains three memorials in the United States. There are 124,000 American war dead interred in these cemeteries, of which 30,973 are from World War I commemorative cemeteries, 92,958 from World War II commemorative cemeteries, and 750 from the Mexican-American War. Additionally, more than 15,000 American veterans and others are interred in the Mexico City National Cemetery, Corozal American Cemetery and Clark Veterans Cemetery. More than 94,000 American servicemen and women who were missing in action, lost, or buried at sea during World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War are commemorated by name on stone tablets in ABMC cemeteries and memorials.