The National D-Day Memorial
Bedford, Virginia
Sunday afternoon, April 15, 2018
Remembering the Valor, Fidelity, and Sacrifice
of the Allied Forces of Operation Overlord
Found this beautiful town and place in Northern Virginia. The Memorial sits on a hilltop surrounded on all sides by green fields and has a Welcome center along the approach road.
On June 6, 1944, the Allies invade Western Europe in the largest amphibious assault in history. The National D-Day Memorial is located in Bedford, Virginia – the community suffering the highest per capita D-Day losses in the nation. This memorial honors the Allied forces that participated in the invasion of Normandy during World War II. With its stylized English Garden, haunting invasion tableau, and striking Victory Plaza, the Memorial stands as a powerful permanent tribute to the valor, fidelity, and sacrifice of D-Day participants. Surrounded by the beautiful majestic Blue Ridge Mountains, this makes for a solemn and respectful tribute to our fallen heroes.
Visitors can expect both an educational experience as well as an emotional one, as they walk the grounds at the Memorial and leave with a clear understanding of the scale and sacrifices made during the largest amphibious landing the world has ever seen. Over 150,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily fortified French coastline to fight the Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. More than 5,000 ships and 11,000 aircraft supported the invasion, and by day’s end, the Allies gained a foot-hold in France. The D-Day cost was high with more than 9,000 Allied soldiers killed or wounded as the march across Europe to defeat Hitler began.
The “Bedford Boys”
For Bedford, Virginia, D-Day was especially devastating. Of 37 assigned to Company A of the 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Division, 31 loaded into landing craft and headed for Omaha Beach in the first wave. En route, a landing craft struck an obstacle and sank, stranding dozens far from shore, including five of Bedford’s boys. The remaining 26 successfully reached Omaha Beach where 16 were killed and four wounded within a matter of minutes. Three others were unaccounted for and later presumed killed in action. Another Bedford boy was killed in action elsewhere on Omaha Beach with Company F, bringing Bedford’s D-Day fatalities to a total of 20. In comparison with its 1940’s population, Bedford suffered the nation’s severest per capita D-Day loss. Recognizing Bedford as emblematic of all communities, large and small, whose citizen-soldiers served on D-Day, Congress warranted the establishment of the National D-Day Memorial in this rural community. (The information in this narrative gleaned from the brochure)
Walking around this tribute is moving seeing the landing area diorama with soldier statues wading into shore with the burst of bullets hitting the water and soldiers climbing up the walls of the beach. The statues of the soldier dragging his wounded brother to safety are just a few of the moving tributes on this Memorial Plaza. The Memorial Arch “Overlord” stands strong as a testament to those fallen during this heroic battle to gain a foothold in France to defeat Hitler.
I will post more photos of the Traveling Life’s Highways Facebook page as my blog will only allow one photo to the story.