D-Day

As Allied forces prepared to enter continental Europe and strike at the heart of Germany, the Germans had years to prepare for an invasion, leaving the key uncertainties as where and when it would come. Calais, where the English Channel is narrowest, appeared the obvious landing site for a large invasion force, and it became the focus of a massive Allied diversion that confused the Germans and delayed their reserves from defeating the real landings. Other likely ports, including Le Havre and Cherbourg, had been turned into heavily defended German fortresses. The invasion instead came on the Normandy coast in the most dramatic invasion in history. Bedford, Virginia, lost 21 of the 35 men it sent into battle that day with the 29th Infantry Division. On June 6, 2001, the National D-Day Memorial opened in Bedford, with four symmetrically placed chords dividing the memorial plaza into five sections for the five beaches invaded at Normandy, and converging at the water's edge to signify planning, sacrifice, and decisive action at a given moment in time. The account concludes by linking that collective decisiveness to individual duty through Ed Kelley, who answered with action above and beyond the call of duty.

Keyser, West Virginia · United States