machine gun fire killed many before they could step from their landing boats. Two more Bedford men died before the month was out, and two more were killed before the war ended in May 1945.

Omaha Beach was the scene of the bloodiest fighting on D- Day. The Bedford men were in the Virginia National Guard's Company A, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division. The 170-man company virtually ceased to exist as a fighting unit that first day -- 90 percent were dead or wounded on Omaha.

Operation Overlord involved the United States and 11 Allied countries. The Allies amassed 5,333 ships, nearly 11,000 airplanes, 50,000 military vehicles and more than 154,000 soldiers to launch the largest amphibious invasion in history.

The Allied strategy was to create five beachheads, each threemillion monument complex occupies 88 acres of former pastureland in Bedford, about 25 miles east of Roanoke.

A sculpture of troops scaling a cliff is one of several at the base of the Overload Arc of the National D-Day Memorial that recreate moments during the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944. President Bush dedicated the new memorial in Bedford, Va., June 6, 2001. Photo by Rudi Williams.Download screen-resolutionDownload high-resolution

Dan Weiand attended the dedication of the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Va., decked out in his World War II uniform, complete with his "steel pot" helmet. Weiand, who landed in France about a month after D-Day, is a native of Lynchburg, Va., about 20 miles from Bedford. President Bush dedicated the new memorial, June 6, 2001. Photo by Rudi Williams.Download