Tag: National D-Day Memorial

Bedford resident Lucille Boggess, who was just 14 during World War II remembered the longest day in her family’s history.

“We were getting ready to go to church on Sunday, and the sheriff brought the first telegram. The second telegram was delivered by a cab driver.”

The telegrams brought word that both of her two brothers were killed on D-Day.

Her parents never got over it.

“Several years after that, my mother had a stroke. And I can remember that we’d be sitting around in the living room at night, and she’d be sitting on the sofa and she’d say, ‘Where are my boys?’ I want to cry telling you that,” Boggess said.

Sadly, 21 similar telegrams would be sent to other parents in this community, providing word that their sons would never again set foot on American soil.

Even to this day, town leaders say the loss of 23 young men from a single town of only 3,200 residents has had devastating effects.

The reason for this disproportionate level of tragedy was due to the fact that among the first Americans to storm the Nazi held beaches were 34 Virginia National Guard soldiers, all from the town of Bedford. Known as the “Bedford Boys,” nineteen of them were killed during the first day of the invasion and four others were killed in the days following the initial invasion.

“My parents and most all of us went to see them off,” Boggess said. “We were just kind of saying goodbye but, you know, ‘We’ll see you soon.’ And it wasn’t like they weren’t coming back.”

Yet on June 6, 1944, these boys from Bedford, Virginia, with 150,000 other young men, boarded landing craft for the beaches of France for the D-Day invasion. By the end of that one day, nearly 4,500 allied soldiers lost their lives—nineteen of those killed were from Bedford. “The Longest Day” still casts a shadow over this town, seven decades later.

Those in company who survived and returned also suffered.

“I try not to think of it anymore,” Allen Huddleston said.

Huddleston saw active duty in Normandy, but because of an ankle injury during training, he missed the D-Day invasion.

“Well, I just think I was lucky,” he said.

Another Bedford boy who made it home was Sgt. Roy Stevens. Stevens and his twin brother, Ray, both landed on the beaches, but only one survived.

Roy’s daughter, Kathy, said for most of her life, her father, who died in 2007, would never talk about that day. He last saw his brother when they set out for Normandy on different boats.

“Ray, wanted to shake hands with him, and Pop wouldn’t because he said, ‘I’m going to see you when we get to Normandy,’ and ‘course, Ray didn’t make it, he was one of the first ones out,” Stevens said.

It wasn’t until the creation of the national D-Day memorial in Bedford that Roy Stevens finally was able to revisit the invasion.

“That really got him open because he was able to talk to other survivors, other vets,” Stevens said.

Several years ago (2014), the memorial dedicated a new sculpture to honor the “Bedford Boys,” and to recognize a town that, like so many others in our nation, lost their sons and brothers on one day.

“I’ve often thought, ‘Well, if all these men had come back, how would this community be different and what contribution would they have made?’ And I just felt like it would’ve been a better place, and I think that we still sort of cry for them and miss them,” Boggess said.

“You have to think, this tragedy struck everyone. Every one of these boys was a classmate, a son, a nephew, a paperboy, a little freckle faced neighbor kid who played ball out in the yard—these were 23 young men who never got to raise a family, start a business, or build something great—it’d be impossible to determine just what this community lost on that day,” said one town resident.

The Bedford Boys included two sets of brothers: twins Roy and Ray Stevens, with Ray killed during the landing while Roy survived, and Bedford and Raymond Hoback, both killed.

So much sacrifice—a debt we can never repay or forget.

Worth Pondering…

Today, as America dedicates our D-Day Memorial, we pray that our country will always be worthy of the courage that delivered us from evil and saved the free world.

—President George W. Bush in his dedication speech, June 6, 2001

“Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you…”

—Eisenhower’s Order of the Day upon the invasion of Normandy, June 6, 1944

Lying midway between the Virginia cities of Roanoke and Lynchburg, the community of Bedford is like countless other small towns scattered across the state—a charming Main Street, a clock atop the county court house, and a mountain backdrop overlooking the historic settlement.

Sadly, this Virginia small town bears a tragic, yet honorable distinction of having made a greater sacrifice to liberate Europe from Nazi control than any other community in America: proportionally suffering the nation’s severest losses on D-Day.

With a German Swastika flying over Paris’ Eiffel Tower, the United States, Britain, Canada. and a host of other European allies stormed the beaches of France’s northern shore on the morning of Tuesday, June 6, 1944. It is hard to conceive the epic scope of this decisive battle that foreshadowed the end of Hitler’s dream of Nazi domination. In one of the most pivotal battles of World War II, the allies invaded the French coastline in order to propel German soldiers out of Western Europe and lead the way for victory against the tyrants of that era.

Codenamed “Operation Neptune,” the Normandy landings were the largest seaborne invasion in the planet’s history and made the final defeat of Adolph Hitler possible.

The landing included over 5,000 ships, 11,000 airplanes, and over 150,000 service men. After years of meticulous planning and seemingly endless training, for the Allied Forces, it all came down to this: The boat ramp goes down, then jump, swim, run, and crawl to the cliffs. Many of the first young men (most not yet 20 years old) entered the surf carrying eighty pounds of equipment. They faced over 200 yards of beach before reaching the first natural feature offering any protection. Blanketed by small-arms fire and bracketed by artillery, they found themselves in hell.

By the end of that one day, nearly 4,500 allied soldiers lost their lives. Yet somehow, due to planning and preparation, and due to the valor, fidelity, and sacrifice of the Allied Forces, Fortress Europe had been breached.

Though the invasion was a decisive allied victory, it came at a heavy cost. Over 425,000 Allied and German troops were killed, wounded, or went missing during the Battle of Normandy, including over 209,000 Allied casualties, with nearly 37,000 dead amongst the ground forces and a further 16,714 deaths amongst the Allied air forces.

With a 1944 population of only 3,200 residents, Bedford, Virginia, lost 23 young men in this single campaign, giving it the highest proportional loss of any town in America for the D-Day invasion. Even with the incredibly high causality numbers witnessed throughout the Second World War, such a disproportionate ”population to KIA ratio” is unheard of anywhere else in the entire United States.

On June 6, 2001, the 50-acre National D-Day Memorial opened in the community of Bedford, Virginia, with over 15,000 people in attendance.

The grounds for the monument take visitors on a archival journey through World War II and the politics and perils that embody the time period. Paying tribute to the men and women who served their country in one of its most dire battles, the D-Day National Memorial creates a solemn atmosphere for veterans and visitors alike to gain insight and learn more about the events that shaped our nation’s and our world’s history.

“In Tribute to the valor, fidelity and sacrifice of Allied Forces on D-Day, June 6, 1944″ the Western Virginia monument’s scope is international, recognizing the sacrices made not only by members of the Virginia community, but also to all allied forces from around the globe who took part in the landings.

The monument receives an average of 60,000 visitors a year and is a profound addition to America’s War Memorials.

In addition to being home to the National D-Day Memorial, the community’s losses helped inspire the movie “Saving Private Ryan”. The movie’s director, Steven Spielberg, helped fund the memorial, including funding for the creation of the Arnold M. Spielberg Theater, in honor of his father, a World War II veteran.

So much sacrifice—a debt we can never repay or forget.

Worth Pondering…

Today, as America dedicates our D-Day Memorial, we pray that our country will always be worthy of the courage that delivered us from evil and saved the free world.

—President George W. Bush in his dedication speech, June 6, 2001