National D-Day Memorial - Bedford, Va
Posted by: 
fatcat161
N 37° 19.715 W 079° 32.224
17S E 629607 N 4132327
This memorial is more of a park than a single memorial.
Waymark Code: WM6JV6
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 06/11/2009
Views: 5
The National D-Day Memorial commemorates American participation in the Normandy invasion. After a year of planning in England, more than 130,000 American, British, and Canadian troops, under the command of U.S. general Dwight D. Eisenhower, crossed the English Channel on June 6, 1944, and landed on six beaches along sixty miles of the Normandy coast. Their intention was to drive German forces east and out of France while Russian forces in Eastern Europe slowly pushed west. The heaviest fighting occurred at Omaha Beach, where perhaps as many as 3,000 American men were killed or wounded. By contrast, fewer than 200 casualties (out of 23,000 soldiers engaged) were suffered at Utah, the next beach over.
The Bedford memorial is dominated by a granite arch on which is etched the operation's military name, Overlord. The arch's height—forty-four feet, six inches—is intended to recall the date of the invasion, June 6, 1944. An English garden, the Richard S. Reynolds Sr. Garden, represents the planning stage and is constructed in the shape of the uniform patch for the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force. A curved reflecting pool, located inside the Elmon T. Gray Plaza, calls to mind the English Channel, while various bronze sculptures by Kansas artist Jim Brothers provide even more direct points of reference.
Date of Dedication: 06/06/2001
Property Permission: Public
Access instructions: Located behind Bedford Elementary School off Hwy 122.
Access times: From: 10:00 AM To: 5:00 PM
Website for Waymark: [Web Link]
Location of waymark:
3 Overlord Circle
Bedford, Va USA
24523
Commemoration: D-Day
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Visit Instructions:
Include a photo containing, at minimum, the monument and your GPSr. We'd prefer a photo containing YOU at the monument, but we understand that some people are camera-shy.
Also include a bit about your visit here.