# @vadogwoodnews on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs93Kz4MtSZ
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/6957205-vadogwoodnews-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/83c10e82a2.jpg
- **Posted:** 2023-06-01T23:42:36.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Dogwood (@vadogwoodnews) — https://gondola.cc/vadogwoodnews

## Caption

Virginia history doesn’t always happen within the state line. On June 6, 1944, a day cemented in Virginia history occurred along the beaches of France. 

In planning for over a year, the D-Day invasion (known as Operation Overlord) became a defining moment in World War II. For one small Virginia town, the Allied assault came with a devastating cost. The mountain community of Bedford, located about 30 miles west of Lynchburg, suffered the nation’s highest percentage of casualties, proportionally, as a result of the D-Day battle. 

A total of 19 were killed during the D-Day invasion, followed by another two over the course of the campaign. Two more men from the small Virginia community also gave the ultimate sacrifice. That’s significant for a town with a population of around 3,200 at the time.

There were between 30 and 35 “Bedford Boys” involved in the battle, according to various sources, and some survived the war. Following a hospitalization due to injuries sustained during the D-Day invasion, Ray Nance returned to Bedford and became a farmer and a rural mail carrier. For the 10th anniversary of D-Day, he helped organize a local memorial service. 

Nance also attended the unveiling of the granite arch at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford in 2000. The site honors those killed in action during the invasion, while also providing D-Day veterans a place to visit, reflect, remember, and pay tribute to friends and companions who did not survive. 

Nance was the last remaining Bedford Boy when he died in 2009 at age 94. The veteran’s body paid one final visit to the national memorial en route to interment, complete with a military honor guard.

📸: (AP Photo/Steve Helber) In this May 6, 2019, photo, a group of photos are on display at a tribute center for the Bedford Boys in Bedford, VA
.
.
#history #vahistory #virginiahistory #ushistory #localhistory #historytidbit #bedford #bedfordva #bedfordhistory #bedfordboys #wwii #worldwarii #wwiihistory #worldwariihistory #dday #ddayhistory #ddaymemorial #nationalddaymemorial #france #normandy #normandyfrance #beachesofnormandy #omahabeach #veteran #ultimatesacrifice #smalltown #smalltownva #blueridge #blueridgemountains

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 4
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 3

## Tags

ultimatesacrifice, localhistory, omahabeach, historytidbit, virginiahistory, normandyfrance, blueridgemountains, wwii, smalltown, bedford, worldwariihistory, france, dday, history, normandy, worldwarii, bedfordhistory, veteran, ushistory, wwiihistory, blueridge, nationalddaymemorial, smalltownva, ddaymemorial, beachesofnormandy, ddayhistory, bedfordva, bedfordboys, vahistory

---
Copyright (c) Gondola