The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice

by Alex Kershaw and Alex Hershaw

Book Overview

June 6, 1944: Nineteen boys from Bedford, Virginia--population just 3,000 in 1944--died in the first bloody minutes of D-Day. They were part of Company A of the 116th Regiment of the 29th Division,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0306811677
• ISBN13: 9780306811678
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Bedford boys an American sacrifice

Amazing historical story, covers the story and history of a small town National Gaurd unit in ww2. Goes to show you the real sacrifices made by real heroes. Definitely recommend reading!

Hometown Heroes for Us All

The town of Bedford says it is "the best little town in America," but there are surely other little towns that have the same boast. It is in southwestern Virginia near the Blue Ridge Mountains, and has one anomalous aspect that makes it different from all those other best towns. It is the site of the National D-Day Memorial. The memorial does not sit on the Mall in Washington, nor on the shores of Normandy. It is in this little town because, although thousands of soldiers perished in the D-Day assault, no other town gave as many of her sons. On 6 June 1944, nineteen Bedford boys died, and three more died in the days of follow-up fighting afterwards. There have been sufficient histories of D-Day already, but _The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice_ (Da Capo) by Alex Kershaw focuses the global events onto the personal level. Not only does it describe the horrendous slaughter on the Normandy beaches, but it also tells the effects of the losses on the families within Bedford. It is a sad tale, of course, but full of heroism on both sides of the Atlantic.None of the boys would have said they had particularly volunteered for anything heroic. They were sons of the Depression, and many of them enlisted in the National Guard simply because of the money. They got a dollar for the one training day each month, and for each of the fourteen days in the summer. It was the luck of the draw that the Bedford boys were assigned to a company that had to experience the wickedest fighting of the most difficult assault of the day, on Omaha Beach. Before that, they crossed the Atlantic on the troop-converted _Queen Mary_, and the months before D-Day they spent in grueling training within England, the longest training of any American infantrymen in the war. There are good anecdotes here to tell the stories of these boys, many of whom were away from Bedford for the first time, and of course a harrowing account of the invasion itself. The most heartbreaking account is not of the boys' deaths, but of the reaction at home. The D-Day invasion was in the headlines, of course, but the families in Bedford knew little of their boys' participation in it. The letters stopped coming after 6 June, raising tensions in the town. Then letters to the soldiers started coming back in packs marked undeliverable. Finally, on 17 July, the telegrams started pouring in. Elizabeth Teass, on duty at the Western Union office at the rear of Green's Drugstore on 17 July, expected to be getting sad announcements as part of her job, but was in shock as the machine clacked on and on, one official "deep regret" after another. Kershaw was writing about another project when he came across the Bedford story and realized it had not been told in full. He interviewed as many of the survivors as he could, and the family members still living; naturally, almost sixty years on, he has not gotten to interview all he would have wanted. He has documented meticulous resear

Single Best Book on "The Bedford Boys"

This book is easy to read, accurate (but for use of a few terms) and engrossing. As a 20 year member of the 116th Infantry Regiment, former unit historian and current librarian, this is the single best book I know of about this unit and "The Bedford Boys" from 1940 to 1945. A related book is "Eyewitness on Omaha Beach" by Dr. Harold Baumgarten.

Well written history of a tragedy

June 6, 1944 has been written about extensively by American authors almost from the moment it happened. The invasion to free western Europe has filled perhaps more pages than any other event in history. Beyond books, D-Day has been the subject of more movies than one can count. Among the most famous films about D-Day was The Longest Day and a generation later Saving Private Ryan. What else can be said about the invasion of Europe?Somehow, the story of the young men from Beford, Virginia has been overlooked. When you read the book you'll ask the same question I did....Why didn't Stephen Spielberg make his movie about WWII using this story instead of the fictional story of Private Ryan. When you read the Bedford Boys by Alex Kershaw you'll ask the same question.Bedford, Virginia is a small blue ridge mountain town of 3000. Before WWII jobs were scarce. Most of the men of the town joined the national guard unit to augment their meager incomes. Most earned a dollar a day for the days they trained. When the war started their unit became part of the 116th Infantry, one of the most battered units in Europe. On D-Day twenty-one of Bedford's sons would die on the beaches of Normandy. No other town of any size would suffer such a devastating loss. Twenty-one sons, brothers, fathers, boyfriends all lost; lost as completely as anyone can be lost....erased with the sweep of an hour hand. It boggles the mind even today nearly 60 years later.Alex Kershaw does a wonderful job of bringing these young men to life. These young soldiers aren't just characters on the stage of history. As you learn about them, wome in more detail than the others, they become real people. The book follows them from prewar Bedford, through training, and on the a blood stained beach in France. The book is brutal. The book is poetic. You won't soon forget it.The Bedford Boys is well researched. While Kershaw's coverage of the landings is strong on details it is never the less accurate. He uses the narratives of the few survivors to great effect. If your a student of history you'll most assuredly want to read this book. It is a landmark story.

Freedom's Inordinate Price Tag

This is an utterly engrossing chronicle of one Virgina town's supreme sacrifice during the Normandy invasion. Bedford, VA lost 19 sons within minutes of their landing at Omaha Beach. Three more died later in the campaign. Among those to perish were two pairs of brothers. Five Bedford Boys --including one whose twin brother was among those cut down on the beach -- were spared when their landing craft sank on the approach to Normandy, and they narrowly survived the chilly, roiling Atlantic swells.Bedford is very much a microcosim of America -- a sleepy town of 3,000 -- whose sons and their loved ones paid an inordinate price for freedom. The Bedford Boys never intended to be heroes -- or warriors, for that matter. (Most joined the National Guard in the 1930's for the few extra dollars to supplement Depression-era wages.) But heroes they became, and Alex Kershaw has paid them fine tribute with this vivid, heart-rending account of their experiences."The Bedford Boys" is a particularly timely read now, with young Americans once again being asked to bear the ultimate sacrifice.

Moving Book About One Towns Ultimate Sacrifice

June 6, 1944. Many books have appeared about this famous date in history. However, none quite like this one. It details the town of Bedford Virginia and the lose of 22 of its young men in Normandy. No other town in America gave as much as Bedford.The book starts in pre-war Bedford and follows the yong men from training through battle to coming home. Sadly, most never saw Bedford again. The research that went into the battle chapters is impressive. It is some of the best battle writing I have read. Having grown up in a town like Bedford, I could understand the small town feeling the boys grew up in. I highly recommend this book. You will not soon forget it.