Virginia Guard Soldiers support 67th anniversary event at National D-Day Memorial in Bedford - June 6, 2011

Soldiers from the Virginia National Guard's Lynchburg-based 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry, 116th Brigade Combat Team provided a color guard and other support, and the Petersburg-based 29th Infantry Division Band provided live music at the commemoration event held June 6, 2011 at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford to mark the 67th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy. 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 10th anniversary of the historic site's dedication.