National D-day Monument to Open in Virginia Town

A monument to Allied sacrifices in the D-day invasion of occupied France in World War II is to be dedicated in Virginia on June 6, the 57th anniversary of the bloody battle.

Funded by such luminaries as “Peanuts” cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (who donated $1 million before he died last year), the $19-million monument has been under construction for four years in tiny Bedford, southwest of Lynchburg in central Virginia. Congress chose the site when it authorized the monument in 1996 because Bedford is thought to have endured the highest per-capita D-day loss of any U.S. community: 21 dead from a town with a population of 3,200. (The Virginia unit of the National Guard was among the first to land on Omaha Beach.) Overall, there were 9,758 Allied casualties in the battle.

The main feature of the National D-day Memorial is a 44-foot-tall granite arch engraved with the word “Overlord”--the Allies’ code name for the operation. Other elements include a statue of a rifle topped by a helmet, called “The Final Tribute,” and reproductions of tank barriers the Germans had put up on the Normandy beach. Researchers are compiling a list of the D-dy dead to engrave on the monument, and an education center and amphitheater are planned.

Entry to the 88-acre hilltop site is free June 7 to 10; then a $10-per-vehicle parking fee will be charged by the private, nonprofit foundation that operates it. Telephone (800) 351-D-DAY, Internet https://www.dday.org.