At first glance, the southern Virginia town of Bedford may seem like an unusual place for a national military memorial. However, it makes perfect sense once you know the story of Bedford’s sacrifice on June 6, 1944, D-Day.
They called them the Bedford Boys, 35 young men who grew up and enlisted together to serve their country during war. There were brothers and twins in the group, and they all became part of the same army company, Company A, destined to participate in Project Overlord, D-Day. Nineteen of the 35 would not survive that day, sadly making Bedford the community suffering the highest per capita D-Day losses in the nation.
If interested, I would recommend a short human interest video piece produced in 2014 titled “Bedford Boys’ D-Day loss still casts shadow in Virginia town.”
Thank you for sharing this. I’ve visited the Vietnam Memorial in DC but never this one. It is emotional for me, as was the video. I had brunch with my daughter yesterday and there was an older man there wearing a cap that said D-Day Veteran. There are not many who participated alive. It’s a stark reminded to me of man’s belief in violence as a solution. I wish there was a solution we could use. Thanks for sharing!
I think any healthy and aware person would feel emotional at any of these types of memorials. While I hate wars and the fact that they are ever necessary, I respect and honor those who sacrifice for family and country.
Violence seems a symptom of a much darker inner part of humanity. We seem to be capable of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. It’s as sad as it is perplexing.