Virginia Guard Soldiers join 68th anniversary event at National D-Day Memorial in Bedford
Soldiers from the Virginia National Guard's Lynchburg-based 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry, 116th Brigade Combat Team escorted D-Day veterans and laid a memorial wreath at the commemoration event held June 6, 2012 at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford to mark the 68th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy. Soldiers from the Clifton Forge-based 29th Army Band also laid a wreath. Like eleven other Virginia communities, Bedford provided a company of Soldiers, Company A, to the 29th Infantry Division when the National Guard's 116th Infantry Regiment was activated on Feb. 3, 1941, and 19 of the "Bedford Boys" died during the assault on Omaha Beach. Bedford's population in 1944 was about 3,200, and proportionally the Bedford community suffered the nation's most severe 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 in Bedford, and this year's event marked the 11th anniversary of the historic site's dedication. (Photo by Mr. Cotton Puryear, Virginia National Guard)
Virginia Guard Soldiers join 68th anniversary event at National D-Day Memorial in Bedford
Soldiers from the Virginia National Guard's Lynchburg-based 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry, 116th Brigade Combat Team escorted D-Day veterans and laid a memorial wreath at the commemoration event held June 6, 2012 at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford to mark the 68th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy. Soldiers from the Clifton Forge-based 29th Army Band also laid a wreath. Like eleven other Virginia communities, Bedford provided a company of Soldiers, Company A, to the 29th Infantry Division when the National Guard's 116th Infantry Regiment was activated on Feb. 3, 1941, and 19 of the "Bedford Boys" died during the assault on Omaha Beach. Bedford's population in 1944 was about 3,200, and proportionally the Bedford community suffered the nation's most severe 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 in Bedford, and this year's event marked the 11th anniversary of the historic site's dedication. (Photo by Mr. Cotton Puryear, Virginia National Guard)