Saturday marks the 65th anniversary of D-Day. The National D-Day Memorial is in Bedford, VA- about 20 minutes west of Lynchburg, VA (or 3hours north of Durham.) The Memorial was built in Bedford because it suffered among the nation's highest per-capita losses on D-Day. Unfortunately, because of its out-of-the-way location and struggling economy, the memorial is on the brink of financial ruin. If you've thought about going to the Memorial (or are perhaps thinking, "Wow, I didn't even know we had one of those!") Now would be a great time to go before it's gone!
I think there is truth to the notion that people don't remember D-Day or the sacrifices of our World War II veterans as much as they did a few years ago. Many World War II veterans who had helped fund the Memorial have passed away. That seems like all the more reason to take our kids to the Memorial or talk to our children about D-Day, so the memory of their grea-grandparents stays alive.
The National D-Day Memorial will have special concerts, speakers, and appearances by WWII veterans on D-Day this Saturday. The facility itself is an outdoor museum that tells the story of the Normandy invasion in sculptures of soldiers and their leaders. Air jets shoot mini-geysers of water to mimic enemy gunfire as bronze figures of soldiers struggle for shore in a reflecting pool. Some 10,000 Allied troops were killed or wounded in the costly landing.
For more information on the National D-Day Memorial or this weekend's activities go to: http://www.dday.org/. (Photo courtesy of www.dday.org.)
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