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Title: The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice by Alex Kershaw ISBN: 0-306-81167-7 Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: 15 April, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.76 (17 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Story of the Town that Suffered the Greated D-Day Burden
Comment: Rural Bedford, Virginia, suffered the highest per capita D-Day casualty rate of any American town. Nineteen of its residents, or residents of Bedford County, in which the town is located, were killed at bloody Omaha Beach on that longest day, the first day of the Allied Normandy invasion. Three more residents were killed within the next few days. These Bedford soldiers were members of Company A, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division--the first troops to go ashore on H-Hour at Omaha Beach. The book is well written, a balance of contextualizing historical narrative and oral history of survivors and relatives. This work is not a history of D-Day, nor of the Omaha Beach attack, nor of the Normandy campaign--nor is it designed to be, there are other books which deal with these larger topics. Rather the author skillfully narrates the story of the Bedford boys who joined the National Guard during the Depression to earn a few extra dollars, were called into federal service and endured extended training in the U.S. before deployment to England for the invasion of France. The author portrays an emotionally compelling story of the devastating effects of the loss of so many sons, husbands, lovers, and fellow soldiers by the people of Bedford, reminding us both of the horror of war, its brutal and lasting effects, as well as the unfortunate fact that at times it may be necessary for the liberation of the oppressed and the preservation of freedom. Anne Frank, whose family in hiding learned of D-Day by their radio, entered in her diary that "the best part of the invasion is that I have the feeling that friends are approaching." (Bedford Boys, page 170) Today Bedford is the home of the National D-Day Memorial, a site well worth visiting, as is the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans. The valor and sacrifice of those young men who perished so quickly in the massive D-Day invasion cries out to be remembered by every generation of Americans and citizens of the free world--especially since soon there will be no living survivors of D-Day, with the death each day of thousands of World War II veterans. This book, this D-Day Memorial, this D-Day Museum, and the lives of these brave young men and their families from rural Virginia, deserve a remembrance wherever that perpetual vigilance which is the price of liberty is honored. It was Erwin Rommel who called D-Day the longest day. And it is this day, and every day in which great sacrifices are made for freedom, from the American Revolution to soldiers today bravely defending freedom around the world, that deserves the longest of memories.
Rating: 5
Summary: Deeply Moving and Absolutely Unforgettable
Comment: Reading this book on the bus going to work I found I had to stop
myself from bursting onto tears several times.There are alot of names mentioned in this book so at times it is hard to remember who is who. I don't think it matters though. The point of this book is the incredible bravery shown by these men in the face of certain death.The book puts a face on D-Day beyond what you see in old newsreels. It is a story to tell your children. If you know anyome who was in D-Day shake their hand and say Thank You.
This is history the way it should be taught in school. Absolutely unforgettable.
Rating: 5
Summary: A small town's tragic loss that is well worth remembering
Comment: Dog Green sector at Omaha Beach, D-Day, 6:30 a.m. (Note for those who like visual images: It's the setting for the landing scene in Saving Private Ryan, the scene of the worst carnage on June 6, 1944. Steven Spielberg donated to the Bedford memorial.) The Americans were going to put eleven divisions ashore in Normandy -- ten of which had never seen combat --- most of them after a stormy crossing of the English Channel, the last eleven miles in small, pitching landing craft. Planners estimated casualties of 25%. For the small town of Bedford, Virginia, population 3,000, things were going to get a lot worse, very fast. By noon, 19 young men from Bedford were dead. More would die later in the month. June 1944 was a disproportional tragedy for Bedford.
Kershaw takes us from the formation of the company in the 1930s to interviews with the survivors sixty years later. The three years leading up to D-Day earn the most attention. Following the number of men killed makes the story difficult to write and to follow at times. There are so many names, stories, and relationships, and many of the characters are dead and those who remember have fifty- or sixty-year-old memories. Nonetheless, Kershaw brings the people and their stories to life. Kershaw's story and style reminded me of the memorable "Flags of our fathers". The stories of rigorous training, demanding officers (especially Norman Cota and Charles Canham), preparing in England, dying with other heroes -- had the sepia tone of HBO's Band of Brothers.
Most of the men of Bedford's Company A enlisted in the local National Guard unit in the Depression. Sharp uniforms and training pay were attractive alternatives for an impoverished time. Few of the men ever expected to go to war. Some of their parents resisted letting the young men join the unit. After D-Day and years later, some questioned as to whether the poor soldiers of Virginia were cannon fodder for war profiteers. Kershaw allows the survivors to wonder or comment about the decision to send young, untested men into battle: Should experienced troops been at the lead? Should, could -- Eisenhower have waited for better weather? Could the navy and air force done a better job of softening up the defense? Should the landing parties have been required to carry sixty pounds of pack? Was the intelligence about the defenses bad (better German units replaced poorer ones only days before) or shaded (some were told it would be 'a cake walk')? And several people offer different perspectives on heroes: Were they all heroes on Omaha Beach? Or was it those who died? Or was it those who returned home and had to live with and explain the memories? Or was it the families of the dead men? Some chose September 11, 2001 as a moment to realize the magnitude of the localized loss.
Reading the entire book in one day made me realize how compelling and moving a story could be. We need to read and remember yet also reflect on both the heroics and the humanity of such personal and patriotic history.
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Title: Parachute Infantry : An American Paratrooper's Memoir of D-Day and the Fall of the Third Reich by David Kenyon Webster, Stephen E. Ambrose ISBN: 0385336497 Publisher: Delta Pub. Date: 29 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Flyboys: A True Story of Courage by James Bradley ISBN: 0316105848 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: 30 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: In the Company of Heroes: A True Story by Michael J. Durant, Steven Hartov, Mark Bowden ISBN: 0399150609 Publisher: Putnam Pub Group Pub. Date: 08 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Currahee! : A Screaming Eagle at Normandy by Donald R. Burgett ISBN: 0440236304 Publisher: Dell Pub. Date: 12 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: If You Survive by George Wilson ISBN: 0804100039 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 12 May, 1987 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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