-----Original Message----- From: JudyAlley@aol.com <JudyAlley@aol.com> To: SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com <SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Wednesday, December 16, 1998 1:06 PM Subject: history In June 1994 (I believe that's the right date) a group that included some of the survivors from that famous Bedford, VA. group traveled back to France and spent a week of celebration there. Greg Edwards, then with the Rke Times, now with the Times Dispatch, accompanied the group there was extensive coverage in the Rke. Times about the event which I'm sure is in that paper's archives if anyone cares to explore the event further. >I came across an interesting article about a SWVA town and thought I would >share it with you since in a short time it will be history of the previous >century. > >People's Magazine 1/9/1998, page 61-62: >Bedford, Virginia has the grim distinction of having suffered the highest per- >capita >D-Day causalities of any town in the country! There is a brass and granite >monument to the men of Company A, an infantry unit whose ordeal on Omaha beach >helped inspire the harrowing portrayal of D-Day in the movie "Saving Private >Ryan" >Soldiers from Bedford and nearby mountain towns played a crucial part in the >battle. Of 35 local resident who went ashore with Company A on 6 June 1944, 19 >died in the first 15 minutes and 2 more were dead before sundown. Those brave >men took part in the largest air, land and sea battle ever fought. >73 year old Bob Slaughter, (who was inducted into the US Army on his 16th >birthday) recalls staggering onto Omaha Beach that morning and feels this >event was too important to forget. Today, he has come tantalizingly close to >ensuring the people of Bedford and the country, will have a lasting reminder >of the event. In 1997, Slaughter oversaw the groundbreaking for a $12 million >National D-Day Memorial and Education Center that will overlook the town of >Bedford from a nearby mountain. It includes an 88 acre park with statues, a >waterfall and a triumphal arch. It is scheduled to be opened on 6 June 2000. > > >==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== >#4 Chain letters, gossip, non-genealogical notes, commercial ads, pleas for help, etc. are >PROHIBITED on this List. Violators will be promptly locked out. -sysop > >