NATIONAL D-DAY MEMORIAL TOUR SCRIPT FOR MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLERS

Before we get started, we just want to let everyone know that we will

not have time to look at all of the Memorial during our tour. However,

we do suggest you guys take a walk around the site at your pace after

the tour if you have time. If you do that, you will get more of an

understanding of the geopolitical landscape before and after D-Day. 3

D-Day was the largest land, air, and sea battle ever undertaken. The

invasion included over 5,000 ships, 11,000 airplanes, and over 150,000

service men including all of the people you are representing today. D-

Day was literally the turning point of World War II and it signaled the

beginning of the end of Hitler’s dream of Nazi domination.

As we walk through the Memorial, we will see that it is laid out

chronologically to outline the three crucial phases of Operation

OVERLORD, which is the code name for the invasion of German

occupied France.

Stop One: Bob Slaughter

Up until the late 1980’s, there was not any mention of a memorial

commemorating D-Day until Bob Slaughter, a veteran of D-Day

from Roanoke, talked about how he wanted one.

Eventually, Congress chose to place the memorial here, but chose

to NOT make it a national park. The National D-Day Memorial is a

nonprofit educational foundation.

The “Peanuts” cartoonist, Charles Schulz, (you know, Snoopy?)

donated one million dollars to the project and accepted leadership

of the national fundraising campaign to build the memorial until

his death in February 2000.

On June 6, 2001 the Memorial officially opened to the public.

Over 24,000 people attended that day, including several hundred

D-Day veterans and President George W. Bush.

--Now we’re going to make a stop at the statue called Homage, which

commemorates some very special veterans.

Stop Two: Homage

On your nametags, you have the names of the individuals this statue

represents: the Bedford Boys. These young gentlemen grew up together

in the small county of Bedford, and most of them never went farther

than Roanoke or Lynchburg until their National Guard unit was

mobilized. The first time that Company A, which was made up of most of

the Bedford boys, saw action was on June 6, 1944.

On D-Day, the town of Bedford lost more men percentage wise

than any other in the United States.

That is one of the many reasons as to why the National D-Day

Memorial is located here in Bedford.

Bedford lost 19 men on D-Day and three more later on in the war.

They were brothers, sons, cousins, and friends to those at home

and whom they fought with in the war.

Interesting Fact: Four of the Bedford Boys were a part of the team

that won the European Theater of Operations World Series in

1943.

The Statue Itself

This statue is symbolic; it represents communities like Bedford

that had to grieve for community members that didn’t make it

home.

There were 33 sets of brothers from the 29th Division 116th

Regiment Company A, specifically three from Bedford: the

Powers, Hoback, and Stevens brothers. Ask: If you have the last

name Powers, come stand next to me. If you have the last name

Hoback, come stand on my other side. If you have the last name

Stevens, come stand in front of me.

Ray and Roy Stevens came from a farm family of 14 children. The

twins grew up during the hard times of the Great Depression. Both had

to drop out of school to help their family. Like many twins, they were

close and did many things together, buying a 130-acre farm and even

dating twin sisters for a while. Before they climbed aboard their landing

craft in preparation for D-Day, Roy recalled that they would shake

hands when they met again on shore, but Ray ignored him. Today, our

victory garden to the right of the education tent is named in honor of the

Stevens family.

Earl Parker raise your hand—As you were training in the days before

the invasion, you were showing off pictures of your newborn baby girl.

Put your hand down.

Tony Marsico, Elmere Wright, and Frank Draper Jr. raise your hands

—you all played baseball together back home in Bedford and enjoyed a

few games through your training, too, sharing a love for the sport. Put

your hands down.

Taylor Fellers, Leslie Abbott Jr., Gordon White Jr., Clifton G. Lee

raise your hands—you were all on a landing craft together on D-Day,

probably bonding over your fear. Put your hands down.

John Clifton and Weldon Rosazza—raise your hands…these boys were

the ladies’ men, always out trying to impress girls together. Put your

hands down.

Bedford and Raymond Hoback, raise your hands—another set of

brothers from Bedford. Put your hands down.

Grant Yopp and the Stevens brothers, raise your hands—as we know,

the Ray and Roy were brothers, but Grant was basically an adopted

brother into the Stevens family. Put your hands down.

Charles Fizer and Harold Wilkes raise your hand—served on a boat

team together on D-Day. Put your hands down.

Jack Mitchell, Earl Newcomb, Cedric Broughman, George Crouch

raise your hands—you all cooked with the mess sergeant, Earl, for

Company A. Put your hands down.

Allen Huddleston and Robert Goode raise your hands—Goode was a

jeep driver under the leadership of Huddleston. Put your hands down.

Dickie Overstreet and John Wilkes raise your hands—these

gentlemen were on a Higgins boat together on D-Day. Put your hands

down.

Jack and Clyde Powers raise your hands—another set of Bedford

brothers. Put your hands down.

John Schenk raise your hand—Schenk had already established a life

back home in Bedford. He was in charge of a hardware store and was

married. He and his wife agreed to pause and think about each other at

5 p.m. everyday. Put your hands down.

Wallace Carter raise your hand—Little Wallace was a pro at games of

chance like pool and had a big brother who they called Big Snake Eyes,

which is why his nickname was “Little Snake Eyes.” Put your hands

down.

Ray Nance and John Reynolds raise your hands—they saw battle

together on D-Day. Put your hands down.

Nick Gillaspie, Anthony Thurman, James Lancaster, James Watson—

raise your hands. Although we don’t know much about these gentlemen,

it is plain to see that like the others they probably had families,

girlfriends, hobbies, etc. at home that they sacrificed when joining the

National Guard. Put your hands down.

Ask: What kinds of things or people would you be giving up if you went to

serve our country?

Our Memorial embodies the ideas of valor (bravery), fidelity (loyalty

and friendship), and sacrifice (giving one’s life for another). All of the

Bedford boys had these qualities, and as we go through the Memorial

pay attention to how these qualities might have come into play and

where you as a Bedford boy might be and how he might be feeling.

We’ve seen how everyone was connected and knew each other from the

small town of Bedford. However, this statue not only represents the

Bedford boys, but many other small towns in the United States that

suffered from the war.

--Now we will move to the start of our Memorial’s story of D-Day in the

English Garden.

Stop Three: The Start of the Garden Walkway

Overview of What Led to D-Day

Hitler, the leader of the Nazis in Germany began taking over other

countries such as Poland and France

The U.S. did not get involved until the Japanese bombed Pearl

Harbor on December 7, 1941.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower was given the task of forming the

largest invasion fleet in history in order to have an amphibious

landing on the northern coast of France called Operation

Overlord. If Operation Overlord was successful, the landing would

be the starting point for the Allies to start taking back Europe

from the Nazis.

In August of 1944, the Allies freed France from the Germans by

capturing Paris and it all began with D-Day.

Why is it called the Reynolds Garden?

This garden is called the Reynolds Garden named after Richard S.

Reynolds Senior. He was an industrialist-poet who foresaw his

country’s need for aluminum. He placed his fortune and

reputation in the balance to produce enough aluminum for the

U.S. to build and sustain the air force that gave the Allies

overwhelming air-superiority for D-Day.

Focus of the Garden

The garden focuses on the activities and planning that took place

before then Supreme Commander Eisenhower issued the D-Day

Order.

This is the patch of the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied

Expeditionary Force.

These guys did all of the planning for D-Day in England, which is

where our troops left from to get to France on D-Day.

Our garden is set up like a typical garden in England, but in the

shape of the S.H.A.E.F. patch.

In front of the S.H.A.E.F. patch on the back wall is a rainbow of

flowers, just like on the patch. The big bunch blue in that rainbow

was there to represent the hope for the future. The rest of the

rainbow was for the colors of the flags of all of the countries that

helped on D-Day. The black represents the bad guys and how they

didn’t let the people do what they wanted. The shield and the

sword represented how we were going to fight until the bad guys

stopped doing what they were doing to the people of Europe.

Stop Four: Along the Left Side of the Garden

Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley—Assault Commander;

commanded U.S. ground forces.

Admiral Sir Bertam H. Ramsey—Allied Navy Commander from

England; commanded the naval phase of the Allied landings in

Normandy

Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur William Tedder—Deputy Supreme

Commander (Second in Command to Eisenhower)

Stop Five: Eisenhower

General Eisenhower from America was the main planner of D-Day.

He’s situated under the house we have in our garden.

This house represents the Southwick House where the planners

actually met, and where Eisenhower made the final decision to

launch D-Day on June 6th.

Ask: How do you think General Eisenhower looks here? Stern? Lecturing?

In this statue, Eisenhower, also known as “Ike,” is discussing fly-

fishing with a Lieutenant of the 101st Airborne Division shortly

before they deployed.

Ike knew he was sending these soldiers into danger and knew a

lot of them would not make it home. So, instead of lecturing them,

he decided to connect with them, and this particular soldier had

an interest in common with Ike: fly-fishing.

Ask: How would you as a Bedford boy feel getting to chat with your

Supreme Commander? Scared? Happy?

General Eisenhower used a toy company in England to create the

map for the invasion.

The map wasn’t put together until the day before D-Day because

Eisenhower didn’t want the top-secret mission to fall into the

wrong hands.

He even designed the map as a puzzle. If you look at the top of the

house he’s standing in, you can see a replica of it.

At this point in their journey, the Bedford boys of Company A were

training in England. They were preparing for something, but they

weren’t sure exactly what. Just like Eisenhower tried to keep it a secret

from the enemies, he kept it a secret from his troops just to make sure

no one accidentally gave it away. They had been training for months in

England and were waiting in anticipation of what was to come.

Stop Six: Along the Right Side of the Garden

Field Marshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery—British Assault

Commander; led the 21st Army Group on D-Day

Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford L. Leigh-Mallory—Allied Air

Commander; Air Commander in Chief of the Allied Expeditionary

Force

Lieutenant General Bedell “Beetle” Smith—Chief of Staff; who

would later serve as U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union and

Direct the CIA.

Stop Seven: The Southern Wall of the Garden

The plaques on this wall are in honor of the Infantry Regiments

that served on D-Day.

The big plaque here has Eisenhower’s Order of the Day on it,

which was given to each troop as he filed into his transport and

landing craft on D-Day. Eisenhower delivered this order to the

troops in order to encourage them to persevere despite the fact

that Eisenhower believed there was a real possibility the invasion

might fail. He even wrote a note taking full responsibility if it

failed, but luckily he didn’t need to use it.

Have one child be Eisenhower, get help from chaperone to choose which

child, and have them read the Order of the Day. When they are through

ASK: do you think this Order motivated the troops to do their best even

though they might not have the best circumstances? Do you think the boys

of Bedford were still scared as they boarded their boats that day?

Remember they were not altogether, but a lot of them were grouped

together: the kids from the small town of Bedford, VA, would become men

later that day.

Stop Eight: The Bronzed Battle Map of the Invasion

Point out where Company A landed on the bronze map, as well as

other Virginia companies such as Lynchburg’s Company B or

Roanoke’s Company D.

--Now we are going to move out of the planning phase and transition to

the actual invasion on June 6, 1944.

Stop Nine: The Exterior of Gray Plaza

The Gray Plaza is named after the Honorable Emon T. Gray who

served in the Navy in the Pacific Theater of WWII and later served

in the Virginia Senate and exemplified the qualities the Memorial

exists to honor: valor, fidelity, and sacrifice.

Just a reminder that valor means to be brave, fidelity means to be

loyal and friendly, and sacrifice means to give one’s life for

another.

Tell them: when you walk across the bridge, look for statues of soldiers

that show each of the Memorial values. Hint: Each value is found in two

different statues around the bridge.

Gray Plaza signifies the landing and fighting stage of the invasion.

The plaza is set up into five sections that represent the five

beaches on D-Day.

On June 6, 1944, troops landed in Normandy, France on five code-

named beaches: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.

There were many countries involved on D-Day, and if you turn

around towards the garden you can see the 4,413 names of the

soldiers that landed on the beaches of Normandy that day and

paid the ultimate sacrifice.

There were I, which you can see to the left, but there were

soldiers from other countries, which you can see to the right. We

have all of the names of the soldiers that died on D-Day on the

plaques along the walls.

There are so many American flags because of one beach in

particular: Omaha. Omaha beach was the deadliest beach on D-

Day. Omaha beach was also where most of the boys from Bedford

in Company A landed on D-Day.

The National D-Day Memorial Foundation worked for seven years

with governmental and military officials of the twelve Allied

Expeditionary Force nations to confirm by name, nation, and

service the some 4,413 people who died on D-Day.

Turn to face the arch.

On D-Day when the soldiers landed, they did not know how long

they were going to go without supplies. Their goal was to capture

the beach so they could get their ships with supplies at least to

there; however, they had to travel all the way inland to Germany if

they wanted to end the war.

As they traveled inland they would get farther away from their

supplies. So, they wore or carried everything they might need for

a few months. Soldiers wore wool uniforms that would keep them

warm if they were wet or in the winters, even though the wool

would make them super hot in the summer.

They wore helmets to protect their heads from shrapnel, or

debris, not bullets.

They had a gas mask in case gas got into the air like it did in World

War I and a canteen to hold their water.

Thirty-six soldiers and all of their gear had to fit into a Higgins

boat which carried them some of the way across the English

Channel from the big navy ships. The Bedford boys from Company

A were made up of 35 soldiers, so them plus one had to squeeze

onto one of these landing crafts.

--Because you are all in Company A from Bedford, we are going to walk

over to our Omaha beach and swim through the channel to the Higgins

Boat. Do it.

Stop Ten: The Higgins Boat

The soldiers were crammed in pretty tight with 36 soldiers in one

of these boats. The boats were not made of the nice thick granite

ours is made of. Instead, they were made of quarter inch plywood,

which rocked and rolled with the ocean. As you can imagine, a lot

of the soldiers got seasick, but packed in so tightly they couldn’t

get to the edge. The soldiers would barf in their helmets and wait

for a moment to dump it out. Then their helmet would go right

back on their heads.

The front of the Higgins boat, or LCVP, would drop down into the

water and the soldiers would run out. Now, because the invasion

began from the water, soldiers wore a life belt that would help

keep them afloat. Ask: Do you think it actually helped them float

even though they were weighed down with all of their gear? No.

Some of them didn’t know how to swim, like Roy Stevens (raise

your hand), who had to be saved by Clyde Powers (raise your

hand). However, a lot of the soldiers drowned before they even

got to the beaches on D-Day, which you can see represented by

the man right on the edge of the water. Some were injured upon

landing, like Anthony Thurman (raise your hand), and John Wilkes

(raise your hand).

A second obstacle that prevented some of the soldiers from

reaching the beaches was the hedgehog that you can see in our

scene. The hedgehogs were meant to rip open the bottoms of

boats, which wouldn’t be too difficult in our thin wooden Higgins

boats. Sometimes the enemy would attach mines to the hedgehogs

so they would blow up when a boat touched them. Because of this,

the Allied forces understood that it was crucial to land at low tide

so they could see obstacles such as the hedgehogs in the water.

Another obstacle was the “German Wall,” where the Germans

built mines and obstacles all along the Normandy coast as a

defense mechanism—more than 6 million in all. The wall behind

the bridge that hides our restrooms was poured in the style of

German bunkers. The bunkers were where the German soldiers

were able to concentrate machine gun fire onto the beaches.

These bunkers could take a direct hit from naval guns and remain

intact.

The sculpture scaling the wall represents valor, fidelity, and

sacrifice that the Memorial seeks to honor. Some believe it was

symbolizing of the climbing over the cliffs to victory.

The sculptures of the troops in the water were not created as

depictions of any particular soldier. One sculpture represents

valor (bravery), one represents fidelity (loyalty and friendship),

and the third represents sacrifice (giving one’s life for another).

The one that represents sacrifice is holding a Bible, which

resembles of one of the Bedford Boys, Raymond Hoback (raise

your hand), whose Bible was found on the beach.

Raymond received a Bible from his mother as a Christmas gift

when he was eighteen. Receiving your own bible was a rite of

passage, and he took it seriously. He kept his Bible close at hand

and took it with him when the Bedford National Guard Company

was mobilized in 1941. Following D-Day, there were reports of

fierce fighting as the Allies moved deeper into France.

--We’ll have a few minutes to cross the bridge and take in the scene of

the valor, fidelity, and sacrifice of the troops, but first we will walk over

to our memorial to the water aspect of the invasion.

Stop Eleven: The Anchor and Coast Guard Bell

The bell and the anchor we have represented at the Memorial

represent the Coast Guard and the Navy of the Allied forces, who

played a very important role on D-Day.

The Coast Guard and Navy ships transported the allied soldiers to

the middle of the English Channel so they could board their

Higgins boats. They also shot their big guns towards the shore to

try to eliminate the German enemy that was stationed on the

beaches.

Most of those gentlemen made many trips back and forth from the

boats that day, each time risking their lives more and more.

The code name for the water part of the invasion was Operation

Neptune, and Operation Neptune played a huge role in the entire

invasion: Operation Overlord.

--The waterfall we have there did not exist on the beaches of Normandy,

but is there to represent the chaos of the beaches on D-Day. There were

dying people, explosions, gunshots, and screams of the wounded. It

would be almost impossible to hear your neighbor. As you walk across,

imagine you were a boy from Bedford who had never left home or seen

battle and how scared and chaotic it must have been. I will not try to

talk as we cross, but I will give you two minutes to walk across the

bridge and take in the scene on the beach. Remember to be respectful,

as this scene represents the valor, fidelity, and sacrifice of the troops on

D-Day.

Stop Twelve: The Bridge

Let the kids have two minutes to walk across the bridge and take in the

scene.

Stop Thirteen: The L3 Plane

Planes similar to this one were used during Operation Overlord.

Fighting land and sea were crucial to the invasion, but it is

important to remember the different types of air power that were

used, too.

The airplane we have displayed at the Memorial is nicknamed the

“grasshopper” because when landing it hops like a grasshopper.

For D-Day, the planes had black and white stripes on them so the

Allied knew they were their planes. The planes played an

important role even before D-Day itself. They dropped

paratroopers in the night before D-Day to try to gain ground

inland. The plane we have, though, is a spy plane. It fits two

people: the pilot and a spy, who would look for enemy groupings.

You can also see on the top of our arch the same colors

represented. As the planes were flying over the towns of

Normandy they probably saw a lot of rooftops, which is what the

black and white things on the top of the arch are also

representing.

Another version of air power: The only group of African

Americans to land on June 6, 1944 was part of the 320th Barrage

Balloon Battalion. Barrage Balloons were filled with helium and

designed to protect ships and troops from air bombings. The steel

cables that supported the balloons could cut off an enemy plane’s

wing.

--Now we march to victory in France! Have the kids march with you up to

the archway.

Stop Fourteen: In between the Arch and The Final Tribute

Our arch is 44 feet 6 inches tall symbolizing the year of D-Day,

which was 1944 and the day of D-Day, June 6th. The Arch was

chosen at the Memorial to symbolize victory because after

entering and freeing Paris, the people celebrated the troops with a

parade that included marching through the Arc de Triomphe. Ask:

Who knows what triumph means?

That triumph did come at a cost, however. The statue here, The

Final Tribute, honors the valor and fidelity of fallen troops, and is

obvious of their sacrifice. It is a representation of the way shallow,

temporary graves were marked during WWII: soldier’s rifle

upside down (later taken for someone else to use), his helmet

placed on top, and dog tag hanging on the hat as well as a dog tag

in the troop’s teeth. They placed a tag in the teeth because the

teeth were the last to decay on a body, and if the dog tag stayed in

the teeth they could identify the body.

This ultimate sacrifice and the valor and fidelity that came with it

are what our Memorial tries to represent. If you look at the seal

under the arch, you will see the lion that represents the valor or

bravery, the dog that represents friendship or fidelity, and the

pelican that represents sacrifice.

19 out of 35 of the Bedford boys paid the ultimate sacrifice that

day. Ask: I would like all you to line up in three rows. If I call your

name, I would like you to step forward through the arch. Cedric

Broughman, George Crouch, Charles Fizer, Robert Goode,

Allen Huddleston, James Lancaster, Robert Marisco, Jack

Mitchell, Ray Nance, Earl Newcomb, Dickie Overstreet, Clyde

Powers, Roy Stevens, Anthony Thurman, James Watson, and

Harold Wilkes.

--These gentlemen are the only ones to make it through D-Day. On

Sunday, July 15th, 1944, the citizens of Bedford were up getting ready for

church and their Sunday morning routines when the telegrams started

arriving. The families and friends of 19 Bedford boys received the news

that their boys were not coming home. They truly embodied the ideas of

valor, fidelity, and sacrifice.

Stop Fifteen: The Memorial Seal

Our seal represents the valor through the lion, the fidelity through

the dog, and the sacrifice through the female pelican giving up her

young on our seal.

Stop Sixteen: The Other Side of the Archway, Facing the Flags

There were 12 countries that participated in the Allied D-Day

invasion. All of the flags behind the arch represent each of these

countries. From right to left they are: the United States, Australia,

Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, Netherlands,

New Zealand, Norway, Poland, and the United Kingdom.

Tell them: I hope you learned about D-Day in a little more personal way

today through our Bedford Boys. Please let me know if you have any more

questions and feel free to explore the Stettinus Parade in front of us

and/or take pictures. Thank you for your time.