The bombing of Pearl Harbor was 70 years ago this week-December 7, 1941.
Reaching the shore, D-Day Memorial, Bedford Virginia
This is a salute to those whose devotion to God and country carried them into bloody waters. The visits I’ve made to the D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia are also in honor of them. It was early summer of 2002 when my husband and I first visited these hallowed grounds. A reverent flag of silence unfurled through the crowd as we merged into the sunlit courtyard. The courtyard is the birth of a memory. The tiny community of Bedford, Virginia is home to this impressive World War II, D-Day Memorial. June 6, 1944, thirty-five Bedford sons hurled their bodies into the French surf of Normandy. Their nearest protection from enemy shells lay two hundred yards away. Shouldering eighty pounds of equipment and fighting the surf, nineteen died within the first fifteen minutes of battle. Two died later from their wounds. At that time, Bedford, was a community of 3,200. It has the somber distinction of having the highest proportional D-Day loss of any area in the United States. Seven hundred ninety-seven Virginians were among the casualties that day.
Looming over the blue hills of the Virginia landscape is the arch of Victory Plaza. It stands 44 feet, 6 inches tall, representative of the June 6, 1944 date. The top is symbolic of the gables of French homes. The arch is etched with the word Overlord, the code name of the Normandy invasion.
Throughout the reflecting pool are bronze replicas of soldiers churning through the surf as they leave their landing craft. Hedgehogs, the obstacles planted by the German Army, meant to damage the incoming Higgins boats, are interspersed throughout the water. The unmistakable ping and spray of incoming artillery fills the air. The body of a Bedford soldier lies at the surface of the water. His Bible is surrounded by bronzed blood, a testament to his faith. Our guide told us the story of this soldier. It seems that another soldier from Richmond, Virginia was crawling toward the beach and saw that the young man’s Bible had been thrown from his pocket. He picked it up and found a name and address inside. He was able to return the Bible personally to this address–the address of the young man’s mother. Finally, a nineteen-foot story wall shows four allied soldiers working together to climb the fortress that has been Hitler’s Europe.
We were visiting friends who later showed us the mountains of their beautiful state as we shared family pictures. However, somewhere near us were family albums that stopped short of completion. These were the sons of Bedford, Virginia, bathed in the bloody French surf. Their loved ones’ tears could fill many oceans, families wounded in spirit so that others might live freely.
In February of 2011, I lost the Retired United States Air Force Captain who was my husband and soul mate. Bill Coogler trained Strategic Air Command Crews (SAC) in ‘downed pilot’ communications after he graduated from what was then, Clemson Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1953. His tenure was short, but his work was meaningful. In June, 2011, my sister and I toured the memorial. Great strides in the landscaping and construction have taken place since 2002. It is worthy of a visit from those who want to remember and honor the sacrifices of our men from all wars.
“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 hope and prayers of liberty-
Loving people everywhere are with you…
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
June 6, 1944-D-Day
In Memory and Honor of: 116th Infantry of the 29th Division-Bedford, Virginia
Victory Plaza Bedford Virginia D-Day Memorial