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80th Anniversary of D-Day at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia [1]

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Date: 2024-06-06  

I’m fortunate to live a short drive away from Bedford, Virginia, home to the National D-Day Memorial located there. The Bedford Community proportionally lost more men than another other community on that day. Company ‘A’ had a 92% fatality rate. Most of them lost their lives in the first 9 minutes of battle. They landed on Omaha Beach. They had prepared 2 years in England for that day.

They have several events today and the next couple of days. I took a chance and drove to the Visitor’s Center. You couldn’t drive up to the actual Memorial location without a special 80th anniversary pass. Luckily, I have an electric car and there were 2 spots open for charging in an otherwise full lot in the Visitor center. I grabbed one of them and started charging my car. The volunteers in the Visitor center said the event had started and you couldn’t even walk there.

I decided to see how far I could walk, and a couple of police said you could walk up the road, no problem, just be careful of traffic. You can see the top of the Memorial at the top of the hill, with the “Operation Overlord” Arch at the top of the hill.

I was able to get close enough where I could see the proceedings. There were several speakers that gave stories of survivors from that day. You could imagine what it must have been like for those soldiers. They had several flyovers of WWII aircraft, I witnessed the Spitfire, P-51, and the T-6 flyover. The last one was especially poignant as the planes flew in the missing man formation, which is an aerial salute to commemorate the lives of soldiers killed in combat.

Dark clouds were gathering, and I left shortly after the last flyover, so I could walk back before all the cars and busses would clog the drive.

Another place to visit is in downtown Bedford, a museum dedicated to the Bedford Boys from Company A that lost their lives that day. Bedford Boys Tribute Center is worth the stop. Lots of personal effects of the Bedford boys donated by relatives. I toured this on a previous day. You can actually see the teletype machine where the news of the losses poured in. The volunteers there will tell you personal stories. They provided a wreath for today’s service.

We need to honor their sacrifice (over 4,000 people (Allied/American)) lost their lives that day. Participate in this democracy. Please volunteer as best you can for as many times as you can. I’m personally writing swing state postcards, canvassing, and helping organize meet and greets. They gave everything and we can’t let it slip away.

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