My ears perked right up when the guide on the D-Day Beaches tour said that the access road is named for the town of Bedford, Virginia. My mother spent every summer of her childhood in Bedford, staying with her three male first cousins. All three landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day.
JOSEPH E. PARKER, JR. died on August 27, 1944, almost three months after D-Day, near St. Lo, France, having moved inland after the troops broke the German line on D-Day. His grave is at the Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial in Saint-James, France. I described my visit in a worldgrazer post dated 11/30/14.
WILLIAM PARKER was imprisoned and released at the end of the war.
Bedford, Virginia suffered the country's most severe per capita losses on D-Day as well as in all of World War II. (I'm quoting from FindAGrave.com, which popped up when I searched the names of the soldiers whose graves I hoped to see when visiting the D-Day memorials in Normandy).
The significance of how Bedford figured into D-Day was reported by author Alex Kershaw in his best seller, The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-day Sacrifice. The book's summary description follows.
"June 6, 1944: Nineteen boys from Bedford, Virginia--population just 3,000 in 1944--died in the first bloody minutes of D-Day. They were part of Company A of the 116th Regiment of the 29th Division, and the first wave of American soldiers to hit the beaches in Normandy. Later in the campaign, three more boys from this small Virginia town died of gunshot wounds. Twenty-two sons of Bedford lost--it is a story one cannot easily forget and one that the families of Bedford will never forget. The Bedford Boys is the true and intimate story of these men and the friends and families they left behind.Based on extensive interviews with survivors and relatives, as well as diaries and letters, Kershaw's book focuses on several remarkable individuals and families to tell one of the most poignant stories of World War II--the story of one small American town that went to war and died on Omaha Beach".
Now that I have seen the harsh cliffs of Normandy and appreciate the extraordinary bravery of the American soldiers who faced German firepower, I have added Bedford, Virginia to my must-see list. The National D-Day Memorial in the United States is located in Bedford. Its website says: "Proportionally this community suffered the nation's severest D-Day losses. Recognizing Bedford as emblematic of all communities, large and small, whose citizen-soldiers served on D-Day, Congress warranted the establishment of the National D-Day Memorial here.
After rechecking the proper labels, I can say that as a first cousin once removed, of three of those incredibly brave young men, I am humbled by the fierce bravery of thousands of soldiers who took on the Nazi forces and turned the course of history.
EARL L. PARKER, the oldest of the three brothers, died on June 6, 1944, on D-Day on Omaha Beach in the first wave of more than 160,000 Allied troops that landed along the 50-mile stretch of heavily fortified coastline. His body was never found. His name is engraved on the Wall of the Missing at the Normandy American Cemetery. He was married and the father of one daughter. He was the only Bedford Boy that had a child.
 |
| Wall of the Missing, Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Colleville-sur-Mer, France |
 |
| Detail of the Inscription of Earl L. Parker's name on the Wall of the Missing |
 |
| Sgt. Earl L. Parker, Bedford Company A, 116th Infantry, 29th Division, part of the first wave of D-Day Allied Troops. |
JOSEPH E. PARKER, JR. died on August 27, 1944, almost three months after D-Day, near St. Lo, France, having moved inland after the troops broke the German line on D-Day. His grave is at the Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial in Saint-James, France. I described my visit in a worldgrazer post dated 11/30/14.
 |
| Grave of Joseph E. Parker, Jr. at the Brittany American Cemetery, St. James, France |
WILLIAM PARKER was imprisoned and released at the end of the war.
Bedford, Virginia suffered the country's most severe per capita losses on D-Day as well as in all of World War II. (I'm quoting from FindAGrave.com, which popped up when I searched the names of the soldiers whose graves I hoped to see when visiting the D-Day memorials in Normandy).
The significance of how Bedford figured into D-Day was reported by author Alex Kershaw in his best seller, The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-day Sacrifice. The book's summary description follows.
"June 6, 1944: Nineteen boys from Bedford, Virginia--population just 3,000 in 1944--died in the first bloody minutes of D-Day. They were part of Company A of the 116th Regiment of the 29th Division, and the first wave of American soldiers to hit the beaches in Normandy. Later in the campaign, three more boys from this small Virginia town died of gunshot wounds. Twenty-two sons of Bedford lost--it is a story one cannot easily forget and one that the families of Bedford will never forget. The Bedford Boys is the true and intimate story of these men and the friends and families they left behind.Based on extensive interviews with survivors and relatives, as well as diaries and letters, Kershaw's book focuses on several remarkable individuals and families to tell one of the most poignant stories of World War II--the story of one small American town that went to war and died on Omaha Beach".
Now that I have seen the harsh cliffs of Normandy and appreciate the extraordinary bravery of the American soldiers who faced German firepower, I have added Bedford, Virginia to my must-see list. The National D-Day Memorial in the United States is located in Bedford. Its website says: "Proportionally this community suffered the nation's severest D-Day losses. Recognizing Bedford as emblematic of all communities, large and small, whose citizen-soldiers served on D-Day, Congress warranted the establishment of the National D-Day Memorial here.
After rechecking the proper labels, I can say that as a first cousin once removed, of three of those incredibly brave young men, I am humbled by the fierce bravery of thousands of soldiers who took on the Nazi forces and turned the course of history.
 |
| Locations of the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville and Brittany American Cemetery in Saint James |