The Bedford Boys

A gripping account of one Virginia small town’s sacrifice on D-Day during World War II—”A powerful reminder of the human cost of war” (Washington Post).

“Kershaw's book is more than just another war story; here is an in-depth account of this blue-collar town and its three,zero people. . . . Drawing on interviews with survivors and relatives, newspaper clippings, letters, and diaries, Kershaw has chronicled one community's great sacrifice.” —Booklist

June six, 1944: Nineteen boys from Bedford, Virginia—population just three,zero in 1944—died in the first bloody minutes of D-Day . . .

They were part of Company A of the 116th Regiment of the 29th Division, and the first wave of American soldiers to hit the beaches in Normandy. Later in the campaign, three more boys from this small Virginia town died of gunshot wounds. Twenty-two sons of Bedford lost—it is a story one cannot easily forget and one that the families of Bedford will never forget.

The Bedford Boys is the true and intimate story of these men and the friends and families they left behind. Based on extensive interviews with survivors and relatives, as well as diaries and letters, Kershaw’s book focuses on several remarkable individuals and families to tell one of the most poignant stories of World War II—the story of one small American town that went to war and died on Omaha Beach.

“Accessible and moving. . . . Kershaw . . .includes combat sequences that give a vivid private’s-eye view of the particular hell that was Omaha Beach, while one of the most moving portions of the book is the simultaneous arrival in Bedford of nine “We regret to inform you . . .” telegrams.” —Publishers Weekly