Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice

The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice
The Bedford Boys One American Town's Ultimate DDay Sacrifice
Author: Alex Kershaw
The poignant story of twenty-one boys who died on the beaches of Normandy and the small town they called home. On June 6, 1944, nineteen boys from Bedford, Virginia--population 3,000--died in the first bloody minutes of D-Day when their landing craft dropped them in shallow water off Omaha Beach. They were part of the first wave of American sold...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780306811678
ISBN-10: 0306811677
Publication Date: 4/2003
Pages: 274
Rating:
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 6

3.8 stars, based on 6 ratings
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 3
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

sla506 avatar reviewed The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice on + 35 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This book brought tears to my eyes and left me speechless. This is by far one of the best WWII related books I've read. It's powerful and heart-wrenching, and it had a profound impact on me. Kershaw does a wonderful job of helping the reader get to know each of the "Bedford Boys". You end up feeling like you've known them for years, and as a result, the story is that much more captivating and unbelievable. Kershaw really helps the reader to better understand what the soldiers went through...and what they're families went through. His story of D-Day is fascinating - I could not put this book down, and after I finished, I went on to do more reading/research on D-Day. I even ordered more of Kershaw's books. He gives a lot of background and history, but this book is not dull or difficult to follow at all.
reviewed The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice on
Helpful Score: 1
If you're interested in history and WWII, this book is very good. It's about a group of men from the same area in the Bedford area of SW Virginia who all died on D-Day.
reviewed The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Very interesting.The Washington Post states it best "A powerful reminder of the human cost of war."
Read All 6 Book Reviews of "The Bedford Boys One American Towns Ultimate DDay Sacrifice"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

reviewed The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice on + 80 more book reviews
This is more than another WWII story it circles your whole being by involving the history of the town of Bedford, VA and its families who raised the men that were the first to be slaughtered on the beach of Omaha on June 6, 1944. You get a look of how the metal in these men was forged into fighting men possessing strong determination, love of country, and bond of brotherhood which caused them to face the German machine guns and body ripping shrapnel. We realize these weren't professional soldiers, but hometown boys that played baseball, dated the girls they knew from childhood, worked on the local farms and in the stores of this small town who wanted to live like you and I. They would rise to the call of their nation when called to defend it if it cost them their lives. Some had premonitions about their death, but this didn't deter them of their duty and desire to return to their families and loved ones in the little town of Bedford, VA. The author also allows us a tragic glimpse into the lives of those who shall never see them again. Kershaw at his best, I recommend it with vigor.
fog avatar reviewed The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice on + 139 more book reviews
Very good account of the town of Bedford Virginia's local National Guard unit that was a part of the initial assault on D-day. Author writs about the early formation of the unit, the background of the young men and their families that comprised Company A, 116 Regt, 29the Division. if you are at all interested in first hand accounts of the Longest Day, June 6,1944 than you need to read how Bedford lost almost all of its sons, husbands and brothers that were part of Company A in the first minutes of the invasion.
reviewed The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice on
A great book. Difficult for me to read because I kept crying! I will always appreciate what those boys did on Omaha beach.


Genres: