Legacy of D-Day Affects Our Lives Today

“I applaud those who had the vision and foresight to set this endeavor in motion and see to its construction thus far. It’s a beautiful place, and every facet of it reflects the planning and execution of D-Day, ultimately leading to the defeat of a murderous dictator.”

-- Lucille Shelor, Roanoke, VA, August 12, 2002
 

“Members of the National D-Day Memorial Foundation, a group composed mostly of World War II veterans and their families, searched for six years and examined about 50 locations in central Virginia before voting this week to erect the memorial on a 23-acre site in Bedford...A small site in Roanoke lost to Bedford by a vote of 11 to 4.

“The memorial...will be erected on a grassy knoll overlooking the city and will honor all the Allied soldiers who lost their lives during the D-Day invasion.”

-- Leef Smith, The Washington Post, November 12, 1994
 
 

"A crowd of 21,000 gathered for the memorial's dedication on June 6, 2001 -- 57 years to the day after the D-Day landing.  Rising 44 feet, 6 inches, an arch symbolizes the June 6, 1944 invasion date.  Its black-and-white cap replicates the stripes used on Allied aircraft for D-Day.  Below, statues of soldiers storm a concrete 'beach' containing sand from Normandy.  Beyond fly the flags of the 12 nations that cooperated in the invasion.  At the dedication President George W. Bush laid a wreath and lauded the 'scared and brave kids by the thousands who kept fighting' on the beaches of Normandy."

-- Cliff Tarpy, National Geographic, June 2002
 
 

“The Overlord Arch stood tall amid a circle of lights Friday night on the hill beyond the heart of Bedford. The mountains were enveloped in clouds and a faint stream of 1940’s music carried with the cool breeze as hundreds of people came out to see the memorial as dusk faded into darkness....
The fountain was illuminated with red, blue and orange lights outlining the bronze soldiers charging the beach....”

-- Caroline Wallinger, The News and Advance, August 31, 2002

Though very infrequently, the site is open at night from time to time. It is worth watching out for the next date. Look for it in warmer weather!

This summer the site will be open on the following days until 10 p.m. -- May 24, June 6, August 30. (Also a benefit dance in the evening of August 9 until 11:30 p.m.)  See News for more details
or www.dday.org.

“...the National D-Day Memorial has been established to pay tribute to valor, fidelity and sacrifice.

“I found the D-Day memorial atop a windswept knoll that overlooks Bedford and its surrounding countryside. After paying the modest admission fee, I pulled into the parking area that circles the memorial, where it became obvious that I was not the only traveler drawn there. Before swinging into an open space, I passed cars from Pennsylvania, Alabama, Florida, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Maryland. And I had come only part way around the circle...

“At the far end of the plaza, I clung to a balustrade and looked down upon bronze statues, frozen in time but lifelike nonetheless as they waded across a water-filled pool. The scene had the effect of combatants wading to shore. One statue drags a wounded buddy through the water. Another, apparently dead, lies at the edge of the pool, his Bible near his side. Yet another is midway between a facsimile landing craft and the edge of the imagined beach. He is waist deep in water, rifle lifted high overhead, while the water intermittently pops and sprays around him as though erupting from gunfire.

“He is only a bronze statue, you tell yourself, perhaps modeled after one of the Bedford boys. But still you find something inside of you hoping that he makes it to shore unscathed and does not join the dead and wounded whose memories infuse the surroundings...

“To me, the memorial seemed like a holy place, and others must have felt so, too. Conversations were hushed, and reverence was the perceivable mood around me....”

-- The Rev. Glenn Busch in The News and Record, North Carolina, 2002
 
 

-- Darrell Laurant, The News and Advance, July 1, 2002
 

"The National D-Day Memorial exists to celebate and honor the Valor, Fidelity, and Sacrifice of the Allied Forces on D-Day, June 6, 1944....This monument pays tribute to those who died on D-Day but also to those who lived to secure the beachhead and carry freedom inland -- and to those who transported the ground forces by air and sea, provided their aerial and naval support, and delivered their combat and combat-support services....that you yourself are free and here today is but a portion of their rich and enduring legacy..."

-- From the Bronze Plaque at the Memorial
 
 

Located between Lynchburg and Roanoke, Virginia, in Bedford off of Route 460 at the intersection with Route 122/Burks Hill Road. The Memorial sits above the Bedford Elementary School and uses the same entrance off of Burks Hill Road. You can see the Overlord Arch and flags from the intersection.