D-Day from Bedford, Virginia
Wandering far afield, George Kerestes chose to spend this D-Day in Bedford,
“WE DO REMEMBER. WE WILL REMEMBER” Those were the key words from this past weekend when I had the honor to attend the 65th Anniversary of D-Day at the “National D-Day Memorial” in Bedford Virginia.
On that day I was one of over 4,000 who attended the Memorial to mark the massive Allied invasion of World War II.. I had always wanted to visit and this weekend presented me the perfect opportunity.
Why Bedford Virginia? On June 6, 1944 Bedford earned the distinction as the town that sustained the highest per capita loss of lives on D-Day in Normandy, France.. Within the span of a single day, the community lost 19 citizen soldiers from the 29th Infantry Division of the National Guard. (The entire population of Bedford at that time was 3,200.) By the climax of the Normandy invasion, 23 Bedford men would die in France.
The D-Day news hit Bedford via the local Western Union where on July 17, 1944, 19 telegrams containing the same message over and over “The Secretary of War regrets to inform you” and each bearing the name a Bedford man. For this reason, Congress chose Bedford as the site for the National D-Day Memorial which was dedicated on June 6, 2001 to memorialize “the valor, fidelity and sacrifice” of the Allied Forces on D-Day and to ensure that future generations would continue to remember and learn from that historic event.
This past April, Ray Nance, the last of the 38 “Bedford Boys” who landed on Omaha Beach, passed away at the age of 94. On the day of his funeral he took his final ride around the National D-Day Memorial.
When I arrived on Friday I immediately signed up for one of the tours and though I was going to be one of 20 mixed in with a high school group. However, I hit the jackpot when my tour guide was World War II veteran, Crosby “Bing” Grindle (386th Infantry Regiment, Company I). It was just the two of us for the next 45 minutes. That was the best $3.00 that I spent in a long time.
Some of what I learned from Bing: The monument is a fitting tribute to that fateful day in which the future of the free world rested in the hands of 150,000 service men embarking on a mission of sacrifice, leaving 4,000 of them dead and over 10,000 casualties. As in the World War II Memorial, symbolism is everywhere from the height of the triumphal arch inscribed OVERLORD (the allied code name for the Normandy landing) which is precisely 44ft high to commemorate the date of June 6, 1944, to the way the concrete was poured on the pedestrian walkway to resemble waves on the beaches. When we stopped by the speech (engraved on a brass plaque) that General Eisenhower gave the troops before that start of the invasion, Bing said to me “do you want to hear it?” Yes and out came a small cassette recorder and for the first time that I can remember, I heard the speech in its entirety. At the World War II Memorial 39 of his words are engraved in the granite – when you engrave in granite you must choose wisely. Later that evening on the local news, there was Bing giving the same tour and same information to a local TV reporter. Not only did I receive a 5-star tour, but it was from a celebrity as well.
On Saturday, I arrived early for the 11:00 am ceremony and used that time wisely in extending my hand and offering my “Thank you for your service” (and when I saw the D-Day Veteran button) I added “and welcome to your memorial!” I was able to extend my thanks to over 500 World War II Veterans and I guess about 250 of them were D-Day veterans…WOW! Another jackpot for George. There was a large reunion tent, interviews with the veterans were conducted, and ample opportunities to talk with the veterans. No one seemed to be in a rush for the day to end.
I can sum up the ceremony in a few words: A promise to veterans was made this day – that the record of their valor, dedication and sacrifice will not be lost. We do remember. We will remember long after these heroes are gone.