Virginia Guard and Shenandoah University host screening of Bedford documentary - May 26, 2010

The Virginia National Guard and Shenandoah University hosted a screening May 26 of the documentary "Bedford - The Town They Left Behind" at Shenandoah University. Soldiers from the Winchester-based 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment were joined at the screening by members of the local community, including former Secretary of the Army and Winchester native John O. Marsh, D-Day veterans and family members of Soldiers who took part in the D-Day landings. The documentary producer and director were on hand to answer questions about the film.

"Our intent is to bring together local veterans, current and former unit members, local leaders and students to view this captivating documentary film," said Lt. Col. Bill Zana, former commander of the 3rd Battalion. "Although focused on the town of Bedford, the many messages in this film are just as relevant for Winchester and many other small towns."

“D-Day marked the beginning of the end of World War II and the re-emergence of the promises of democracy and freedom,” Marsh wrote in a Richmond Times Dispatch editorial. “Many Virginians may have forgotten, and many may never have known, that the 29th National Guard Division consisting of men from Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia was the only Guard unit selected to participate in the initial invasion of France at Normandy on that pivotal day in June of 1944.” The full editorial is available here:
www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/op_ed/article/ED-...

The following information is posted on the film's web site (http://www.bedfordthemovie.com/press.html):
"The 74-minute feature film by the Johnson Group in McLean tells of Bedford's sacrifice during the D-Day Invasion - the town, now a city close to reverting back to a town, lost more men than any other U.S. locality. Co-director and writer Joe Fab said interviews were done with survivors, including Ray Nance, the last living Bedford participant in D-Day, and Roy Stevens, a late veteran who lost a twin brother during the invasion, along with their relatives."

The following synopsis is from the film's web site (http://www.bedfordthemovie.com/synposis.html)
"During World War II, men from all over the United States went into combat, but it was Bedford, Va., that earned D-Day's most chilling distinction: the country's highest losses per capita. Directors Joe Fab and Elliot Berlin, who approached the Holocaust from a fresh direction with Paperclips (Filmfest DC 2004), now tell the story of Bedford, whose local National Guard unit was once considered a good way to make a few bucks during the Great Depression. But then the country was drawn into war that same Guard unit was the first to come under withering German fire on Normandy's beaches. This documentary recalls that solemn history but also places it in contemporary context: In 2004, Bedford's National Guard troops were called up for the first time since 1945. They were sent first to Afghanistan and then to Iraq."-Mark Jenkins

Sunday, June 6, 2010, will mark the 66th Anniversary of the D-Day Invasion, and the Virginia National Guard will host a ceremony Saturday, June 5 at the Cherry-Beasley Readiness Center in Winchester at 10 a.m. to commemorate the anniversary.