Just to add to SSG Ivanov's post on D-Day is a story of The Bedford Boy's
On June 6th 1944 a National Guard infantry unit based out of Bedford, VA - Company A of the 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Division,
would become one of the units at the forefront of the D-Day invasion. The company was tasked to assault Omaha Beach at Dog Green to secure the D-1 draw
that was in front of the village at Vierville, France. That morning, Company A would be loaded onto seven Landing Assault Craft (LAC) and head
towards the beach. When they arrived, they would face elements of the German 352nd Infantry Division that covered the entire shoreline. The first
assault troops to land that morning were to secure the draws along the beach for the vehicles when they arrived. During the approach to the beach Boat 5
was hit and sunk along with 6 soldiers from Company A including the boats crew, 20 soldiers were later rescued. Boat 3 would be hit next killing several while
another dozen drowned. However, as the remainder of the LAC reached the shoreline the soldiers saw that the beaches were untouched from aerial bombing
and artillery which were suppose to create shell holes to provide cover for the troops going ashore.
German machineguns opened up and many men would meet their demise before they could even exit the boats or as they tried running off with nowhere to take cover.
Boat 7 drifted onto shore with a dead Coxswain at the wheel and a 17 man medical section trapped on board. As they tried to escape over the sides many were
killed. In a span of about 10 minutes Company A was literally destroyed. Within the next hour a few of the soldiers were able to crawl across the beach to
the seawall trying to survive. By the days end, Company A had only 18 out of 230 soldiers unhurt. Within the next several days four more would die in combat.
Bedford, Virginia, quickly became a national symbol of sacrifice during WWII with 19 of the 35 troops from that town killed on day one and another 4
more dying before the end of the campaign. Bedford had suffered the largest proportional losses of any town in the United States. Those men became known as
Just to add to SSG Ivanov's post on D-Day is a story of The Bedford Boy's
On June 6th 1944 a National Guard infantry unit based out of Bedford, VA - Company A of the 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Division,
would become one of the units at the forefront of the D-Day invasion. The company was tasked to assault Omaha Beach at Dog Green to secure the D-1 draw
that was in front of the village at Vierville, France. That morning, Company A would be loaded onto seven Landing Assault Craft (LAC) and head
towards the beach. When they arrived, they would face elements of the German 352nd Infantry Division that covered the entire shoreline. The first
assault troops to land that morning were to secure the draws along the beach for the vehicles when they arrived. During the approach to the beach Boat 5
was hit and sunk along with 6 soldiers from Company A including the boats crew, 20 soldiers were later rescued. Boat 3 would be hit next killing several while
another dozen drowned. However, as the remainder of the LAC reached the shoreline the soldiers saw that the beaches were untouched from aerial bombing
and artillery which were suppose to create shell holes to provide cover for the troops going ashore.
German machineguns opened up and many men would meet their demise before they could even exit the boats or as they tried running off with nowhere to take cover.
Boat 7 drifted onto shore with a dead Coxswain at the wheel and a 17 man medical section trapped on board. As they tried to escape over the sides many were
killed. In a span of about 10 minutes Company A was literally destroyed. Within the next hour a few of the soldiers were able to crawl across the beach to
the seawall trying to survive. By the days end, Company A had only 18 out of 230 soldiers unhurt. Within the next several days four more would die in combat.
Bedford, Virginia, quickly became a national symbol of sacrifice during WWII with 19 of the 35 troops from that town killed on day one and another 4
more dying before the end of the campaign. Bedford had suffered the largest proportional losses of any town in the United States. Those men became known as
" The Bedford Boys "