Meet Virginia (part I)

I'm baaaaack!

It's a bit sad that I only had two comments the entire time I was gone, but hey, what are you gonna do.

Well, as I mentioned in the previous post, I had planned on visiting a few places along my little journey and here is the first post in the series telling you about them.

My first stop was in Bedford, VA, at the National D-Day Memorial. You may be asking yourself why there is this wonderful, yet unknown, National Memorial located in a town of about 5,000 people. Well as the brochure tells you, "Proportionally this community suffered the nation's severest D-Day losses." It goes on to explain that in 1944 the town's population was about 3,200, 19 of which died on D-Day.

I've been here before but I enjoy returning every chance I get because this memorial means something special to me. My grandfather was a survivor of D-Day and I enjoyed nothing more than talking to him about the war. This memorial is staffed by actual D-Day veterans and I enjoy talking with them just as much. There's something to be said for living history.

The memorial itself is a recreation of soldiers storming the beach in France and fighting their way up the hills and over the German fortifications. In my opinion, the memorial is close to the best I've ever seen. It easily trumps anything in Washington D.C. in my eyes. The statues are all life-sized and are filled with emotion. The artist has perfectly captured the feeling, and the moment, and the bravery, and the honor of these men that took their last steps on that beach.

In addition to the emotional sculptures, the beach scene is supplemented with jets of air on the "ocean" floor that mimic bullets blanketing the water around the advancing soldiers. If you have a fast connection, check out this 30 second, (5MB) Quicktime video and you'll see the bullets hitting the water.

Complete with a waterfall, flower gardens, and wall of remembrance, every item from the color of the flowers to the height of the archway is significant for something that took place on D-Day.

More pictures can be seen here.

So if you get a chance, check out the National D-Day Memorial. And take my advice, spend the extra 5 dollars for a WWII Veteran to guide you around the park personally. It will teach you what no history book can, and when you're done, don't forget to thank him for what he did that day. And of course for the tour too.

You must download the Quicktime plug-in