Publisher Description
The Bedford Boys is the astonishing true story of twenty-one young men who were killed during the first horrifying minutes of D-Day and the friends and families they left behind in the small town of Bedford. Twenty-one sons killed—no other town in America suffered a greater loss in one day. It is an unforgettable story of triumph, courage, and tragedy based on extensive interviews with survivors and relatives as well as diaries and letters. Alex Kershaw’s remarkable book brings to vivid, heartbreaking life the hitherto untold story of one small American town, their sons, and the brutal, bloody war that deprived them of their futures.
Download and start listening now!
“Each year on the anniversary of D-Day, I see articles in the paper and hear on the news broadcasts about the sacrifices made that day on the beaches. This book showed me another side of that great invasion as the author tells the story of Company 29 and the many soldiers from the little town of Bedford,VA who participated, most of them dying as that first wave of men attempted to cross the beach and attack the German defenders. It was interesting to learn that these boys had signed up as National Guard members, mostly to receive the extra $1 per month to help support their families during the Depression. They were called up for regular duty and trained in England for two years readying them for this invasion that would eventually begin the end of the European theater of the war. It was sad to hear about the few who lived though it all and their survivor’s guilt and post traumatic stress symptoms, things they struggled with for the rest of their lives and for which no help was available at the time. The histories of the families and their struggles to live with their sons’ deaths was sobering. Having a father who fought in WWII and who would not talk about his experiences until almost 40 years later when my 8th grade daughter was assigned in school to interview a WWII veteran, this book made me appreciate again all he did to serve our country and to make this a better place to live.”
—
Jenny (5 out of 5 stars)
