I took a den of Cub Scouts to visit the national D-Day Memorial. It’s located in Bedford VA because per-capita Beford lost more men at D-Day than any other city in America.
The monument itself is beautiful and is located on the top of a hill in the Shenandoah Valley. It’s shaped in such a way that you walk the path of the battle, from the planning in England, to the landing on the beaches, to climbing the cliffs, to victory. There’s lot of plaques telling the story of D-Day or commemorating the men who lost their lives. If you take the guided tour, at one spot they play an audio clip of Eisenhower giving the battle orders to the men. It’s a pretty humbling speech. Probably the most interesting part was the section where they’re storming the beach. Several bronze soliders are coming out of the Higgins boats, several have paid the ultimate price on the beach and several are pushing onwards in some cases carrying wounded. All around the beach there are air guns that blast up through the pools of water. It looks like bullets hitting the water and sounds as you might imagine it too (apparently veterans testify to the accuracy of the sound… though not NEARLY as loud)
I’ve seen all of the other monuments in D.C. (Vietnam, Korean, WWII, Lincoln, etc.) and this one is hands down better.
If you visit, consider stopping at Peaks of Otter too. It’s only 20 minutes away and would be a great place to stop for a picnic or spend the night.
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