My rating: 5 of 5 stars
On D-Day, the beaches of Normandy were stormed and before the end of the week, 22 young men from the small town of Bedford, Virginia gave their lives for the freedom of their country. Most were already serving in the National Guard Outfit when Pearl Harbor was hit. When war came, they would make the backbone of what would become Company A of the 116th Regiment of the 29th Division.
Many of these men were still boys, barely out of high school when they joined the Army. The hard years of the Great Depression trained them from an early age to become soldiers. They left behind families, girlfriends, wives and babies that hadn't even been born. The lively little town of Bedford, Virginia never imagined the price that would be paid in the lives of their young sons, brothers, husbands and fathers.
This story reminds me a great deal of the film The Majestic (2001) and the background story of a little town that lost many of their young men in WWII. Coming from a small town in Virginia, I couldn't possibly imagine that heartbreak that the town of Bedford endured. However, Bedford did endure and honored their fallen sons.
A very good book that not only told the stories of all 22 young men, but also the people of Bedford and life before, during and after the war. The courage of these men and their small town is so utterly admirable. How do you move on when the future of your town is taken away? Yet, Bedford is only one of many small towns across the U.S. that suffered losses of young men and women to war. They mourned and they moved on, but they never forgot.
On D-Day, the beaches of Normandy were stormed and before the end of the week, 22 young men from the small town of Bedford, Virginia gave their lives for the freedom of their country. Most were already serving in the National Guard Outfit when Pearl Harbor was hit. When war came, they would make the backbone of what would become Company A of the 116th Regiment of the 29th Division.
Many of these men were still boys, barely out of high school when they joined the Army. The hard years of the Great Depression trained them from an early age to become soldiers. They left behind families, girlfriends, wives and babies that hadn't even been born. The lively little town of Bedford, Virginia never imagined the price that would be paid in the lives of their young sons, brothers, husbands and fathers.
This story reminds me a great deal of the film The Majestic (2001) and the background story of a little town that lost many of their young men in WWII. Coming from a small town in Virginia, I couldn't possibly imagine that heartbreak that the town of Bedford endured. However, Bedford did endure and honored their fallen sons.
A very good book that not only told the stories of all 22 young men, but also the people of Bedford and life before, during and after the war. The courage of these men and their small town is so utterly admirable. How do you move on when the future of your town is taken away? Yet, Bedford is only one of many small towns across the U.S. that suffered losses of young men and women to war. They mourned and they moved on, but they never forgot.
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