D-Day Remembered
Memorial reflects sacrifice and bravery of World War II invasion

by Lee Graves
for Virginia Business
August 2007

Don't expect a by-the-numbers history lesson when you visit the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford.

Certainly, the numbers do paint a vivid picture of the invasion on June 6, 1944. More than 150,000 ground troops, with the support of 5,000 ships and 11,000 aircraft, landed on a 50-mile beach shoreline. The bloody assault ended with 10,000 Allied casualties, including 4,391 fatalities.

But guides like Terry Newman bring to life the valor and sacrifice of that day.

"When I give a tour to a World War II vet, I try to picture these guys how they were during the war," says Newman, his black "Airborne" hat hinting at his own service. "They say, ‘I was mean and cocky, and I didn't have this,' " he recalls, pointing to an imaginary protruding stomach. "I ask how they did it, and they say, ‘You'd be surprised how fear can motivate you.' "
After giving a tour to a D-Day vet, "I had tears running down my cheeks," Newman recalls. He looked at the bronze statues of men depicted in the throes of battle.

"They did it."

Bedford residents such as Newman and Les Strachan, another volunteer guide, have a fierce sense of pride in the monument, which was dedicated on June 6, 2001. "That's probably one of the highlights of my life — that day," says Strachan.

Part of that pride comes from the loss suffered by Bedford's own. Nineteen young men in the local National Guard unit — Company A of the 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division — died in the first wave. It was the single greatest sacrifice of any community in the nation during World War II.

In addition, though, there's a sense of the larger sacrifice and the greater good. "It's a sacrifice that's unimaginable, and if they hadn't done that, who knows where we'd be today," says Strachan, a British Army veteran.

The memorial sits on 88 acres atop a hill overlooking Bedford. The Peaks of Otter, two distinctive mountains on the Blue Ridge, stand like twin sentinels on the horizon. The towering "Overlord" triumphal arch dominates the site, but the monument begins its story on a plaza below.

An English garden symbolizes the setting in Southwick where the invasion plans took shape. A statue of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, frozen in a pose from a famous photograph, looks from a columned folly onto plantings patterned in a blazing sword representing the Allied Expeditionary Forces. (A folly is common to English gardens. It's like a gazebo with columns.)

Pedestals outside the folly eventually will carry busts of others in the top command. The first, Gen. Omar N. Bradley, is scheduled to be dedicated in November in conjunction with Veterans Day.

Plaques on a facing wall carry Eisenhower's Order of the Day and tributes to military units. Steps lead to the second major part of the memorial, which evokes the armadas' crossing of the English Channel and landing at the five Normandy beaches.

A 55,000-gallon pool, with spurting fountains mimicking bullets' spray, frames statues of soldiers in symbolic poses — a casualty, showing sacrifice; a GI advancing while clutching a wounded buddy, showing valor and camaraderie. More figures scale a wall leading to the top level, where the triumphal arch is flanked by the flags of the 12 nations that participated in D-Day.

On a spring day, one group touring the monument included five young professionals from South Korea. International visitors account for about 2 percent of the 900,000 visitors to the memorial since its dedication, says April Cheek, education coordinator of The National D-Day Memorial Foundation. Day travelers account for most of the visitors. "The number of visitors has really exceeded our expectations," says Cheek.

About 51 percent of visitors come from out of state, creating an economic boost to the area. "A lot of groups that come, they look at what else is in the area, and they like to go do that," says Cheek.

One natural stop in the city is the Olde Liberty Station Restaurant. The young men of Company A — the Bedford Boys, as they're called in Alex Kershaw's book by that name — left from this building when it served as a train station.
The city also is home to the Bedford City/County Museum, and historic residences such as Avenel, a former plantation that counts Gen. Robert E. Lee and Edgar Allan Poe among its visitors.

The county's natural attractions include the Peaks of Otter, which has a lodge for overnight stays, and Smith Mountain Lake. The 20,000-acre reservoir, the largest manmade lake in Virginia, has 500 miles of shoreline, a state park and a growing reputation as an excellent fishery for striped and largemouth bass.

With so much scenic beauty and such a close-knit community, it's little wonder that Bedford calls itself "World's Best Little Town," a slogan on placards that greet visitors as they motor into the city.

And residents have embraced the National D-Day Memorial as a living symbol. "There's a lot of pride in the memorial," Cheek says. "People in the community have really taken it to heart."