USA: The 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy is observed in Bedford, Virginia, a small town which lost 19 of its men that day, the greatest loss by any town in the world relative to its population
Record ID:
644049
USA: The 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy is observed in Bedford, Virginia, a small town which lost 19 of its men that day, the greatest loss by any town in the world relative to its population
- Title: USA: The 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy is observed in Bedford, Virginia, a small town which lost 19 of its men that day, the greatest loss by any town in the world relative to its population
- Date: 6th June 2014
- Summary: BEDFORD, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 6, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS PARACHUTERS IN SKY (SOUNDBITE) (English) VETERAN ALLEN ORNDORFF SAYING: "I was with the 101st Airborne, dropped in on the night of the sixth. (off camera reporter question - "what happened that night?") Everything - all hell broke loose and we dropped at night. Couldn't find anybody, was all by myself in a strange country. I couldn't speak the language, didn't know where I was at or what. And finally, we got together a few at a time until we formed a unit. That was about it - we were the lucky ones." AUDIENCE FACING SPEAKER (SOUNDBITE) (English) COMBAT MEDIC, MARION C. GRAY, SAYING: "Yeah, some of us got through, some didn't. We left behind those who were greater than we. Bless them." FRONT VIEW OF AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARMY VETERAN FROM BOCA RATON, MORRIS YELLIN, SAYING: "I got through the whole thing, I saw every battle from across the street, but not in the battlefield itself, but across the street I saw every battle. I was five battle stars - that's what they awarded my unit, you know." WREATH CEREMONY FLYOVER OF WORLD WAR TWO AIRCRAFT D-DAY VETERAN ASH ROTHLEIN WITH HIS WIFE 'HOMAGE' STATUE UNVEILED AT D-DAY CEREMONY
- Embargoed: 21st June 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAAPRUBGQ4CDJ3WRAN4KW0GYJ2I
- Story Text: Thousands of spectators and veterans gathered on Friday (June 5) at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia, to mark the 70th anniversary of the Allied invasion in Normandy, which had helped turn the tide against Nazi Germany in World War Two.
The commemoration drew about 350 veterans from at least eight U.S. states. With the youngest of them in their late 80s, the event had been billed by organizers as likely the last large gathering of D-Day veterans.
Bedford, a scenic town in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, is the home of the D-Day Memorial because 19 men from there were killed when they landed on Omaha Beach, the largest per-capita D-Day loss by any U.S. community.
The commemoration included prayers, a flyover by World War Two aircraft, a parachute jump, the reading of eyewitness accounts of the invasion and bands playing martial tunes and 1940s' swing. A bagpiper skirled "Amazing Grace," wreaths were laid and a bugler played "Taps."
A new statue called 'Homage' was also unveiled, which pays tribute to the 'Bedford Boys' and other veterans.
But the main attraction was the elderly veterans, many in wheelchairs, who shared their memories of the fighting.
"All hell broke loose and we dropped at night," said Allen Orndorff of June 6, 1944. "Couldn't find anybody, was all by myself in a strange country. I couldn't speak the language, didn't know where I was at or what. And finally, we got together a few at a time until we formed a unit. That was about it - we were the lucky ones."
"Some of us got through, some didn't. We left behind those who were greater than we. Bless them," said veteran combat medic, Marion C. Gray.
As of last September, there were about 1.25 million U.S. World War Two veterans still alive, and 413 die each day, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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