Rating: 
Summary: A Fitting Tribute
Review: In "The Bedford Boys", Alex Kershaw gives a human face to the anonymous soldiers we've seen killed in countless WWII films. I had forgotten that the story of the Bedford soldiers was at least part of the inspiration for "Saving Private Ryan", and I agree with the implication made by some other reviewers that the true story would have made an even more powerful film. "The Bedford Boys" is touching, upsetting, and, when Kershaw describes the tribute finally paid to Bedford's fallen heroes, ultimately uplifting. Without suggesting that the U.S. should not have participated in WWII or the D-Day invasion, Kershaw dramatically points out the sacrifices that have been made by soldiers, their loved ones, and their entire communities to protect freedom in this country, and around the world.
Rating:
Summary: Remembering Virginia town that lost so many on June 6, 1944
Review:
Alex Kershaw's "The Bedford Boys" is about people. It is a history of what war does to individuals and those left behind. We are told that 5,000 Americans died on June 6, 1944, D-Day, but that is a statistic. This narrative is about folks who died trying to cross the beach code named Omaha ' Bloody Omaha. It is the names that make this volume uniquely harrowing, singularly distressing, exceptionally depressing. It is similar to the effect Maya Lin's Vietnam War Memorial in Washington has on people, 58,000 names memorialized in polished stone. Touch a name; contact a soul.
Bedford, Va, lost a higher percentage of its sons on D-Day than any community in America and that is the main reason the National D-Day Memorial was dedicated in the tiny village of Bedford in June, 2001. But 56-years of time and the presence of the president of the United States were not enough to salve the losses on Omaha Beach. Mothers and fathers were emotionally wounded by their losses, siblings permanently disheartened, widows and fiancees everlastingly scarred. Mr. Kershaw's book relentlessly reminds us that war is about humans.
The Bedford boys were shaped by the Depression, and the young men of Company A of the first Battalion of the 116th Regiment of the 29th Division had joined the National Guard in the 1930s for social purposes and also for the essential dollar-a-day they were paid when they were in training once each month and for two weeks in the summer. Many other Bedford inhabitants ' more than 1500 ' served in the armed services during World War II, but Company A was special. These men had grown up, gone to school, played baseball, and worked together, dated each other's sisters, trained and deployed as a group, and were in the first wave to assault Omaha Beach at H Hour on June 6.
Of the 28 troops from Bedford who left the landing craft, 22 were killed, most before they reached the sand, by murderous machine gun fire. Nine others also from Bedford did not reach the beach: five because their landing craft sunk on the way to shore and four others who were in support capacity and did not get ashore on D-Day.
Mr. Kershaw tells of the men trying to swim or wade with packs of more than 60 pounds on their backs, desperate to get ashore while the Germans from barely damaged bunkers and pillboxes laced the beaches with deadly fire: "The Germans had cut Company A to ribbons but they were not satisfied. They now riddled wounded men with arms outstretched in supplication. They peppered soldiers who could not crawl and American teenagers risking their own lives to save them. The . . . machine gunners shot rescuers in the back. Snipers aimed for the forehead." In all,102 men from Company A were killed in the first wave, about one third of the company.
In time, these horrors were brought to Bedford. Back home, the letters stopped a few days before June 6, and when correspondence did not start again soon after the sixth, families agonized over the lack of news.
Elizabeth Teass, one of the town's few telegraph operators, six weeks later "switched on the teletype machine." She read "We have casualties," and read the "first line of copy. 'The Secretary of War desires me to express his deep regret.'" Elizabeth had seen these words before, about once each week, but this time the machine did not stop. "Line after line of copy clicked out of the printer. . . ."
Mothers, fathers, wives learned from Western Union that day, and on other days soon thereafter of the death of Leslie Abbot, Wallace Carter, John Clifton, John Dean, Frank Draper, Jr., Taylor Fellers, Charles Fizer, Nicholas Gillespie, Bedford Hoback, Raymond Hoback, Clifton Lee, Earl Parker, Joseph Parker, Jack Powers, Weldon Rosazza, John Reynolds, John Shenck, Ray Stevens, Gordon White, John Wilkes, Elmer Wright, Grant Yopp. Every name spoke trauma and tragedy.
Understand this about D-Day, dear reader. The air bombardment of German fortifications was crucial, even if not as effective as hoped, and the naval attack on German defenses was essential, even if it did not silence most of the German guns, but at H-Hour when the landing craft lowered their ramps the success or failure of the greatest amphibious attack in the history of warfare, the event upon which the success of the Allied effort in World War II depended, all came down to the Bedford Boys and thousands of men like them scrambling in chest high water, weighed down with equipment and ammunition, and the water they splashed into was crimson with their blood and that of their buddies. And they advanced. Bless them all. Bless them all.
Rating: 
Summary: the longest day in human terms
Review: A tender and ultimately heart-breaking monument to a town that gave its best to free Europe from tyranny. No war books feature wives an faincees as prominently as the men in battle - but this books shows a town at war and not just anonymous grunts. Tender, tragic, enormously dramatic, this books is destined to be a classic - the book and drama that The Longest Day and Saving Private Ryan could have been had the human cost of D-Day been properly recognized. Brilliant, lyrical, brutal and romantic.
Rating:
Summary: A Different Side of the Story
Review: Bedford, Virginia had a population of 3,000. During the depression many young men joined the National Guard. The Guard paid a dollar for every day of training, and during the depression in the coal fields this was a great help towards releaving the poverty. By 1941 38 men remained in Company A, 116th Infantry, 29th Infantry Division.
At 6:30 am on June 6th 1944, Company A landed on Dog Green, the western most section of Omaha Beach. Ten minutes later nineteen boys from Bedford, Virginia were dead.
This is the highest percentage of casualties experienced by any town since the Civil War, and is the reason that the National D-Day Memorial is located in Bedford.
This book is not a unit narrative, true it tells what Company A did, but its real point is what happened in the town and to its people. Rarely do stories of World War II cover the home front, and particularly not the stories of those that remain after the losses. Excellent reading.
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Summary: re: previous review of THE BED FORD BOYS
Review: Briefly: I teach high school history and most certainly would NOT recommend this book as a history of Overlord. In fact, I'm quite certain it wasn't meant as such. I believe the intent of the book WAS to convey to tragic consequences of D-Day upon one small American town--nothing more, nothing less. Mr. Gawne's review, sentence structure and errors in grammar notwithstanding, sorely miss the point and as an historian of D-Day, which I'm sure he is, I hope he will realize this. But I must admit I was surprised when he referred to the 29th Rangers, assuming he meant the 29th Infantry and possibly confused this unit with the 2nd and 6th Ranger Battalions. At any rate, the book is most enlightening and tells a story with compassion that will stay with the reader for quite some time.
Rating: 
Summary: Sadly lacking
Review: Do make the error of rating the book highly becasue you respect what the soldiers did in 1944. Having studied D-day for a long time, and knowing some of the people in this book, I was taken aback by many of the ommisions and mis-understandings in this book. I heard the author claim on TV he worked for 2 years full time on this book. If so the bibilography is pitiful and it shows in the details. But I don't see much solid background research into the military aspects of the subject. Explain the 29th Rangers and their contribution, or more on the ATC reorganization. I would have liked a lot more discussion on the conversion from a Bedford unit to what landed on the beach (see Balkoski's 'Beyond the Beachhead'. What about the impact of non-Bedford types on the unit? Having worked with the 116th unit records I think a lot more should have been done tracking the company- to include the morning reports. I think the best aspect of the book is that it does preserve the memory of a lot of men who did not come home. I, however, think they deserve something better.
Rating:
Summary: A small town's tragic loss that is well worth remembering
Review: Dog Green sector at Omaha Beach, D-Day, 6:30 a.m. (Note for those who like visual images: It's the setting for the landing scene in Saving Private Ryan, the scene of the worst carnage on June 6, 1944. Steven Spielberg donated to the Bedford memorial.) The Americans were going to put eleven divisions ashore in Normandy -- ten of which had never seen combat --- most of them after a stormy crossing of the English Channel, the last eleven miles in small, pitching landing craft. Planners estimated casualties of 25%. For the small town of Bedford, Virginia, population 3,000, things were going to get a lot worse, very fast. By noon, 19 young men from Bedford were dead. More would die later in the month. June 1944 was a disproportional tragedy for Bedford. Kershaw takes us from the formation of the company in the 1930s to interviews with the survivors sixty years later. The three years leading up to D-Day earn the most attention. Following the number of men killed makes the story difficult to write and to follow at times. There are so many names, stories, and relationships, and many of the characters are dead and those who remember have fifty- or sixty-year-old memories. Nonetheless, Kershaw brings the people and their stories to life. Kershaw's story and style reminded me of the memorable "Flags of our fathers". The stories of rigorous training, demanding officers (especially Norman Cota and Charles Canham), preparing in England, dying with other heroes -- had the sepia tone of HBO's Band of Brothers. Most of the men of Bedford's Company A enlisted in the local National Guard unit in the Depression. Sharp uniforms and training pay were attractive alternatives for an impoverished time. Few of the men ever expected to go to war. Some of their parents resisted letting the young men join the unit. After D-Day and years later, some questioned as to whether the poor soldiers of Virginia were cannon fodder for war profiteers. Kershaw allows the survivors to wonder or comment about the decision to send young, untested men into battle: Should experienced troops been at the lead? Should, could -- Eisenhower have waited for better weather? Could the navy and air force done a better job of softening up the defense? Should the landing parties have been required to carry sixty pounds of pack? Was the intelligence about the defenses bad (better German units replaced poorer ones only days before) or shaded (some were told it would be 'a cake walk')? And several people offer different perspectives on heroes: Were they all heroes on Omaha Beach? Or was it those who died? Or was it those who returned home and had to live with and explain the memories? Or was it the families of the dead men? Some chose September 11, 2001 as a moment to realize the magnitude of the localized loss. Reading the entire book in one day made me realize how compelling and moving a story could be. We need to read and remember yet also reflect on both the heroics and the humanity of such personal and patriotic history.
Rating:
Summary: A moving tribute to unsung heros
Review: I happened to walk by and saw the cover and bought it! I read it in one sitting. The book is not a highly detailed history book. It is more of an attempt to give you the impression of the people caught up in extraordinary times. The author attempts to give you an idea as to the men who died and what their families went through after. You do get a taste of the Omaha landings and you can see who this group inspired Saving Private Ryan. In fact a couple of the guys mentioned in the book, consulted on the film. You meet an unsung hero in form of a Medic who ran around trying to help as many people he could. The divisional commander who calmly walked around encouring his soldiers during the slaughter. The sacrifice of the men and men who tried to help others.... Probably the sadest part of the book involves the families: The Western Union Girl who had to take the notices of death. The teacher who got a first graders note about the death of her husband. The mothers and fathers who after 30+ years still can't deal with the death of their sons. Again a worthwhile read!
Rating:
Summary: Impulse purchase
Review: I happened to walk by and saw the cover and bought it! I read it in one sitting. The book is not a highly detailed history book. It is more of an attempt to give you the impression of the people caught up in extraordinary times. The author attempts to give you an idea as to the men who died and what their families went through after. You do get a taste of the Omaha landings and you can see who this group inspired Saving Private Ryan. In fact a couple of the guys mentioned in the book, consulted on the film. You meet an unsung hero in form of a Medic who ran around trying to help as many people he could. The divisional commander who calmly walked around encouring his soldiers during the slaughter. The sacrifice of the men and men who tried to help others.... Probably the sadest part of the book involves the families: The Western Union Girl who had to take the notices of death. The teacher who got a first graders note about the death of her husband. The mothers and fathers who after 30+ years still can't deal with the death of their sons. Again a worthwhile read!
Rating:
Summary: Well written history of a tragedy
Review: June 6, 1944 has been written about extensively by American authors almost from the moment it happened. The invasion to free western Europe has filled perhaps more pages than any other event in history. Beyond books, D-Day has been the subject of more movies than one can count. Among the most famous films about D-Day was The Longest Day and a generation later Saving Private Ryan. What else can be said about the invasion of Europe? Somehow, the story of the young men from Beford, Virginia has been overlooked. When you read the book you'll ask the same question I did....Why didn't Stephen Spielberg make his movie about WWII using this story instead of the fictional story of Private Ryan. When you read the Bedford Boys by Alex Kershaw you'll ask the same question. Bedford, Virginia is a small blue ridge mountain town of 3000. Before WWII jobs were scarce. Most of the men of the town joined the national guard unit to augment their meager incomes. Most earned a dollar a day for the days they trained. When the war started their unit became part of the 116th Infantry, one of the most battered units in Europe. On D-Day twenty-one of Bedford's sons would die on the beaches of Normandy. No other town of any size would suffer such a devastating loss. Twenty-one sons, brothers, fathers, boyfriends all lost; lost as completely as anyone can be lost....erased with the sweep of an hour hand. It boggles the mind even today nearly 60 years later. Alex Kershaw does a wonderful job of bringing these young men to life. These young soldiers aren't just characters on the stage of history. As you learn about them, wome in more detail than the others, they become real people. The book follows them from prewar Bedford, through training, and on the a blood stained beach in France. The book is brutal. The book is poetic. You won't soon forget it. The Bedford Boys is well researched. While Kershaw's coverage of the landings is strong on details it is never the less accurate. He uses the narratives of the few survivors to great effect. If your a student of history you'll most assuredly want to read this book. It is a landmark story.
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