The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

D-Day: Remembering the Bedford Boys

Posted on | June 6, 2010 | 6 Comments

June 6 is a day of remembrance in the Shenandoah Valley town of Bedford, Virginia, home of the National D-Day Memorial. One of the questions most frequently asked about the Memorial is, “Why Bedford?”

You see, there was a local Virginia National Guard unit that was mobilized in February 1941, and the D-Day Memorial site tells the rest of the story:

Company A of the 116th Infantry assaulted Omaha Beach as part of the First Division’s Task Force O. By day’s end, nineteen of the company’s Bedford soldiers were dead. . . . Bedford’s population in 1944 was about 3,200. Proportionally this community suffered the nation’s severest D-Day losses.

Bedford’s Capt. Taylor N. Fellers, commanding officer of Company A, was killed almost the moment his landing craft hit the beach. Lt. Ray Nance was among the wounded:

All but three men on Nance’s boat were either killed or wounded before even reaching the water’s edge. Later, two of the three survivors were killed; only Cecil Breeden was untouched. . . .
After Fellers’ death, Nance became the senior officer in the company, but he did not have many left to command. . . .
Less than 10 minutes after the ramps dropped, Company A was virtually gone. By the end of the first hour, only a handful of survivors remained. Those men crawled across the sand to the seawall and stayed there throughout the day, suffering from shock, exhaustion and wounds. By nightfall, of the 230 men in the company, only 18 men were unhurt.

Cassy Fiano has more D-Day remembrance at Hot Air.

Category: History, Military

Comments

6 Responses to “D-Day: Remembering the Bedford Boys”

  1. proof
    June 6th, 2010 @ 6:58 pm

    Kind of puts our own problems in perspective, doesn’t it?

  2. proof
    June 6th, 2010 @ 2:58 pm

    Kind of puts our own problems in perspective, doesn’t it?

  3. June 6, 1944 Round-up and thoughts | Musings of a Thoughtful Conservative
    June 6th, 2010 @ 4:06 pm

    […] The Other McCain tells us about the boys of Bedford, Va.: “Bedford’s population in 1944 was about 3,200. Proportionally this community suffered the nation’s severest D-Day losses.” […]

  4. Christopher Renner
    June 7th, 2010 @ 12:56 pm

    I salute them as well. Somehow I doubt they’d approve of Uncle Joe being remembered in their hometown, though.

  5. Christopher Renner
    June 7th, 2010 @ 8:56 am

    I salute them as well. Somehow I doubt they’d approve of Uncle Joe being remembered in their hometown, though.

  6. Steyner 413rd « Free Canuckistan!
    June 12th, 2010 @ 12:24 pm

    […] AMERICA AT D-Day: Remembering the Bedford Boys …. […]