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Bedford Goes to War: The Heroic Story of a Small Virginia Community in World War II by James W Morrison (2004, Book, Illustrated): The Heroic Story of a Small Virginia Community in World War II
Like new in Mylar cover. Please feel free to ask any questions before purchasing. Thank you!
- GenresHistory
450 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 23, 2022
It is fitting that Bedford County, Virginia, should be the site of the National D-Day Memorial, because this small, rural county of 30,000 inhabitants, centered on the eponymous town, is believed to have lost more men per capita on that day than any other community in America—of 50 who were part of the assault on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, 20 were killed in action. The county as a whose suffered 140 killed, with many additional wounded and over 20 POW’s, over the course of the entire war and in all theaters of operation.
Rather than devoting space to analysis, interpretation and conclusions, the author leaves these to the reader and simply tells the story of Bedford’s participation in the war from all angles, and details the war’s impact on Bedford County and its people in a simple, straightforward fashion, focusing on both the fighting men and those on the home front, combining broad overview with many personal experiences into a tapestry which demonstrates the fundamental and profound ways in which rural America was forever changed in terms of its relationship to its urban counterpart and its overall view of the world.
What was it like to be uprooted from a familiar but limited frame of reference and thrust into a totally alien environment? What sort of stresses accompanied the separation from family and friends? How did people cope with the replacement of abundance with scarcity due to rationing? In what ways did local businesses cope with a sudden dearth of workers? What were the ways in which grieving family members coped with the loss of a loved one? What was the reorientation process like for those lucky enough to return home?
In answering these and a multitude of other questions which no doubt will occur to a thoughtful reader, the author presents Bedford County as a microcosm of what happened all across America. He has relied upon a deep well of primary source materials: interviews with veterans and their families (as well as families of those who did not make it back); dozens of articles from local newspapers; letters to and from solders and their loved ones; many others. He has not neglected county and city archives and official government publications and has also drawn upon a vast amount of published research about D-Day as well as the home front. In doing so he has performed a valuable service for all those interested in learning more about June 6, 1944, and has amply demonstrated why Bedford County is so justly proud of its heritage of service to America.
**** review by Chuck Graham ****
Rather than devoting space to analysis, interpretation and conclusions, the author leaves these to the reader and simply tells the story of Bedford’s participation in the war from all angles, and details the war’s impact on Bedford County and its people in a simple, straightforward fashion, focusing on both the fighting men and those on the home front, combining broad overview with many personal experiences into a tapestry which demonstrates the fundamental and profound ways in which rural America was forever changed in terms of its relationship to its urban counterpart and its overall view of the world.
What was it like to be uprooted from a familiar but limited frame of reference and thrust into a totally alien environment? What sort of stresses accompanied the separation from family and friends? How did people cope with the replacement of abundance with scarcity due to rationing? In what ways did local businesses cope with a sudden dearth of workers? What were the ways in which grieving family members coped with the loss of a loved one? What was the reorientation process like for those lucky enough to return home?
In answering these and a multitude of other questions which no doubt will occur to a thoughtful reader, the author presents Bedford County as a microcosm of what happened all across America. He has relied upon a deep well of primary source materials: interviews with veterans and their families (as well as families of those who did not make it back); dozens of articles from local newspapers; letters to and from solders and their loved ones; many others. He has not neglected county and city archives and official government publications and has also drawn upon a vast amount of published research about D-Day as well as the home front. In doing so he has performed a valuable service for all those interested in learning more about June 6, 1944, and has amply demonstrated why Bedford County is so justly proud of its heritage of service to America.
**** review by Chuck Graham ****
April 19, 2008
The National D-Day Memorial is located in small-town Bedford, Va. An odd place for a national memorial, until you consider that Bedford lost more men per capita on D-Day than any other community in the United States. The Bedford-based Company A, 116th Infantry Regiment, which was attached to the 29th Divison during Operation Overlord, landed on Omaha Beach and lost 19 soldiers that first day. Four more died during the invasion.
This is their story, as well as the story of a small town deeply affected by the losses. Only one member of that Company A still survives.
This is their story, as well as the story of a small town deeply affected by the losses. Only one member of that Company A still survives.
February 21, 2008
This was a sad story, about how a small town in Virginia lost a lot of its men on D-Day in Normandy. It is very similar to "The Bedford Boys."
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews