Book Review - The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice by Alex Kershaw

Robert is a WWII history buff, and knowing that Bedford is a small town close to our area, I picked this book up for him at the library. He was quite moved by this book and suggested I also read it.

Bedford is a small, rural, farming community. With a population of 3000 in the late 1930s, many of Bedford's young men joined the National Guard as a way to supplement their income. They didn't expect to go to war. As part of A Company, 116th Regiment, 29th Division of the Virginia-Maryland National Guard, they were activated in 1941.

A Company was in the first wave of the assault to hit Omaha Beach on D-Day. Within 15 minutes of landing, it suffered 120 casualties. Twenty-two of the Bedford Boys were killed; six landed and survived. Nine others missed the June 6 landing.

Written mainly through years of interviews with veterans and family members of those killed, this well-researched book tells the story of the Bedford Boys in the Normandy Campaign. The author provides a brief history of the town of Bedford, introduces the "boys" and their families, and tells of their training in Europe, details the assault, and follows the town's discovery of the tragedy.

I was quickly drawn into the story, although I hated knowing that tragedy was right around the corner. I had minimal prior knowledge of D-Day before reading this book, and I learned a lot.

Today, signposts in Bedford still boast the "best little town in America." No other town in America sacrificed as great a one day loss, and for this reason, Congress chose Bedford as the site for the National D-Day Memorial, which opened on June 6, 2001, marking the "valor, fidelity and sacrifice" of the Allied Forces.

Considering Robert's and my different reading preferences, and our interest and pre-existing knowledge of the subject (or lack of it), this book would appeal to a wide range of readers. I'd only driven through Bedford once; you don't have to be a local to appreciate the story. I highly, highly recommended this excellent book.