D-Day veterans from the 29th Infantry Division salute their fallen comrades during the playing of "Taps" June 6, 2012, at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford. (Photo by Mr. Cotton Puryear, Virginia National Guard Public Affairs)
Staff Sgt. Justin Walkup and Sgt. Brian Bennett lay a memorial wreath June 6, 2012, at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford. Both Soldiers serve in 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 116th Brigade Combat Team. (Photo by Mr. Cotton Puryear, Virginia National Guard Public Affairs)
“It is an honor to be here,” said Staff Sgt. Justin Walkup, an infantry Soldier from the Headquarters Company of 1st Battalion. “I don’t want to take anything away from our generation and what we have done, but after hearing the stories about these men who are here, it is hard to compare what we went through with what they went through. It is remarkable what these men did.”
Dedicated by the President of the United States on June 6, 2001, the National D-Day Memorial exists in tribute to the valor, fidelity, and sacrifice of the Allied Forces on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The National D- Day Memorial Foundation operates and maintains the Memorial, and its educational mission is to preserve the lessons and legacy of D-Day.
“It is important for us to remember these veterans on the 68th anniversary of D-Day and pay courtesy and respect for the sacrifices these men made,” Carter said. “Being here today is our way of repaying them for their tremendous service.”
Operation Overlord was the largest air, land, and sea operation undertaken before or since June 6, 1944. Many of the first young men, most not yet 20 years old, entered the surf carrying eighty pounds of equipment. They faced over 200 yards of beach before reaching the first natural feature offering any protection.The Memorial has four major components that represent the sweep of D-Day from the early planning and preparation for it, through the Channel crossing and landing in France, on to the Allied victory and consolidation on the beaches, and beyond Normandy into the landscape of postwar Europe. Within those components, visitors encounter a moving array of small memorials and tributes. Many of those are brought to life by the figurative sculpture emplaced throughout the Memorial.
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