Bedford, VA

Twins often have a special relationship, and such was the case with Ray and Roy Stevens of Bedford, Va. Through much of their lives they followed the same path, working side by side on the family farm, even dating sisters for a time.

In 1938 the 19-year-olds joined Bedford’s “A” Company of the Virginia National Guard, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Division. They were among the 16,000 troops who boarded the Queen Mary for England to train for “Operation Overlord,” code name for the 1944 D-Day invasion.

“The week before (D-Day), we’d been taken into a building where our commanding officers had a big table set up with a sand drawing of the coast of France,” Roy Stevens recalls. “That’s when we knew what our objective was ... And then it was June 6th.”

On that day, powerful winds and waves hammered the Higgins landing crafts as they inched their cargoes of 30 men each toward the beaches of Omaha. On Boat #5 was 25-year-old Tech. Sgt. Roy Stevens.

“The enemy had put up big pipe-like things under the water … if a boat hit one, it’d tear a hole in it, sink it. That’s what happened to #5. We lost a man then and there. He drowned. If we’d have made it in...,” his voice trails off.

Ray Stevens also was a technical sergeant. As the soldiers were offloaded from the troop carrier, Ray was ordered to Boat #2. Turning to his brother, he extended his hand, a silent expression of parting.

“I wouldn’t shake it,” Roy’s voice quivers. “I told him we’d meet again onshore.”

Ray’s craft was one of the first to make the landing. He and his fellow troops began scaling the rugged cliff, a hail of bullets instantly assaulting them.

“There were so many bullets, like feathers all in the air,” Roy recalls. “And it was so cold, so cold.”

Before the day’s end, 19 of the 35 young Bedford men from Company A lay dead, including Ray Stevens. Bedford, a town of just 3,200 in 1944, had the highest per-capita D-Day loss of any American community.

Another D-Day veteran, Bob Slaughter, was determined the men be remembered, and Bedford seemed a fitting location.

“The 116th was made up of Virginia Guardsmen. Roanoke formed ‘D’ Company,” Slaughter says, referring to his hometown approximately 25 miles away from Bedford. “We lost 17 men that day.”

When Slaughter retired from a Roanoke newspaper in 1987, he created a D-Day memorial committee to contact governmental agencies, politicians, anyone who might help promote the project.

“We worked so hard and got absolutely nowhere,” he says. “And then the 50th anniversary—June 6, 1994—came along.”

Slaughter walked Omaha Beach once again that day, this time alongside President Bill Clinton, as one of several D-Day veterans selected for the honor. The Washington Post covered the event, including Slaughter in the story. “After that, the phone started ringing.”

And with every ring came help. The National D-Day Memorial Foundation on Bedford’s East Main Street acquired 88 acres within the city, and Slaughter—as chairman of the Board of Directors—enthusiastically participated in a groundbreaking ceremony Nov. 11, 1997.

The Memorial includes several magnificent sculptures, including the emotionally charged “Scaling the Wall,” a massive green granite slab covered with bronze soldiers depicted in the throes of death and battle. Above this stands Victory Plaza and a granite arch inscribed “Overlord.” Around the plaza 12 flags recognize the men of all the Allied Forces who fought together at Omaha.

An English garden represents the planning stages of D-Day, and a stylized Higgins landing craft sits amid more soldier statuary as sprays of water, signifying gunfire, pelt the advancing troops. Future additions will include a plaque listing all of the Allied Armed Forces’ men who gave their lives on D-Day—a first.

At the Memorial’s dedication on June 6 of this year, President George W. Bush proclaimed, “Bedford has a special place in our history. When people come here, it is important to see the town as the monument itself.”

Adds Slaughter, “Every man who lost his life there needs to be remembered.”

Roy Stevens agrees. “The Memorial not only brings back memories, it causes the younger people who see it to say, ‘Somebody paid the price...’ Our freedom, our liberty still remains. I fought for it, but those men died for it.”

Judy Woodward Bates is a regular contributor to American Profile.

Share This Story With Others:

 

Discuss this Article