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The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-day Sacrifice Paperback – May 12, 2004
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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.
- Print length328 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherDa Capo Press
- Publication dateMay 12, 2004
- Dimensions6.05 x 1.2 x 9 inches
- ISBN-100306813556
- ISBN-13978-0306813559
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Product details
- Publisher : Da Capo Press; Reprint edition (May 12, 2004)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 328 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0306813556
- ISBN-13 : 978-0306813559
- Item Weight : 12.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.05 x 1.2 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #113,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #10 in Military Regiment History
- #807 in World War II History (Books)
- #986 in U.S. State & Local History
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Alex Kershaw is a journalist, public speaker and New York Times best-selling author of ten books, including The Liberator - the basis for the Netflix series - The Longest Winter, The Bedford Boys, Avenue of Spies and The First Wave. His next book, Against All Odds, a saga of four Medal of Honor recipients, will be released in May 2022.
Please visit www.alexkershaw.com for more information.
You can also catch up with him and his work on Facebook - BattlesofWW2; Instagram - AlexKershawAuthor; and Twitter - Kershaw_Alex
He blogs at www.alexkershawauthor.com.
PRAISE FOR THE FIRST WAVE
“[A] fast paced tale… Kershaw is at his evocative best describing the chaos, courage, and carnage of combat, vividly portraying the bravery of the ‘greatest generation.’ Even readers well-read on the subject will enjoy this perspective.”—Publishers Weekly
“A masterful retelling of the most dramatic day of World War II—the Allied landings on the beaches of France. In Alex Kershaw’s expert hands, readers will feel the sting of the cold surf, smell the acrid cordite that hung in the air, and duck the zing of machine gun bullets whizzing overhead. The First Wave is an absolute triumph.”—James M. Scott, Pulitzer Prize Finalist and national bestselling author of Target Tokyo and Rampage
“Master storyteller Alex Kershaw brings the key Allied players of D-Day to life once more. He vividly portrays their exploits—Rangers at Pointe du Hoc, French Commandos at Ouistreham, American paratroopers on the Cotentin, and assault troops who hit the Normandy beaches. These pages ooze with the unforgettable human drama of history’s most consequential invasion. Read them and you might even feel as though you were there.”—John C. McManus, author of The Dead and Those About to Die: D-Day—The Big Red One at Omaha Beach
“Meet the assaulters: Pathfinders plunging from the black, coxswains plowing the whitecaps, bareknuckle Rangers scaling sheer rock. Will they secure the landing zone? Wrest the beachhead? Or will that last bridge blow up in their faces? Even if we know how D-Day ends, The First Wave grips with all the power of a first read. Fast-paced and up-close, this is history’s greatest story reinvigorated as only Alex Kershaw can.”—Adam Makos, New York Times bestselling author of Spearhead and A Higher Call
“Alex Kershaw brilliantly brings a new perspective to one of the seminal events of WWII. The First Wave is an awe-inspiring and important book that portrays the blood on the risers, from Captain Frank Lillyman’s airborne pathfinders to Lieutenant George Kerchner’s Rangers and their remarkable assault on the cliffs of Pointe Du Hoc. The sights, sounds, and fury of D-Day are vividly captured in Kershaw’s virtuoso narrative.”—Patrick K. O’Donnell, author of The Unknowns: The Untold Story of America’s Unknown Soldier and WWI’s Most Decorated Who Brought Him Home
“The First Wave is Alex Kershaw’s stirring tribute to the warriors who successfully carried out the largest and most difficult military operations in history 75 years ago. One of the US First Infantry Division NCO’s who survived that desperate day in Normandy later said, ‘You can’t buy valor and you can’t pull heroes off an assembly line.’ Kershaw’s superb account of D-Day and beyond is the story of their amazing courage under fire and how men ranging from a lord of the realm to the humble son of a president answered the call and began the liberation of occupied Europe from Nazi tyranny.”—Carlo D’Este, author of Decision in Normandy and Patton: A Genius for War
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on that beach was
just too much. I wept more than once as if losing a friend or fami
N. y member.The familes at home during g this time are lovingly presented, like the story of a young Telegraph operator who had to deIver nine of those dreaded messages in one morning. The story of the Bedford boys will stay with with you a long time.
This book details the lives, loves and end of many men who served in the 29th Infantry Division. The division, made up of National Guard units from Maryland and Virginia was chosen to assault Omaha beach alongside the veteran 1st Infantry Division.
The story begins with the prewar, Depression era that impacted the lives of every American, but hit rural areas like Bedford especially hard. This lack of economic opportunity led many of these men to join the National Guard. It also meant that the men of this close-knit, rural area would serve together when war came.
This makes for excellent unit cohesion but also risks wiping out the manhood of an entire region when battle takes its toll. The book continues with their training, shipment to England in preparation for invasion of the continent and, finally, their role and massive losses in the amphibious assault.
The author very much focuses on the human element in this book. Interviews with surviving veterans, wives and relatives as well as letters from those who perished form he core of this book. It is the story of men and women rather than battles. It delves into their stay in Great Britain and their relations with the English people.
The story itself culminates in the inevitable telegrams. The young woman employed by Western Union tells about how, prior to this, she would get a "We regret to inform you..." telegram once a week or once every couple days. In the aftermath of the beach assault, they came...and came...and came. She thought the terrible notices would never end. The author does an excellent job of relating the enormity of the heartbreaking losses sustained on one day in that small Virginia town.
My only criticism is that the author does not give an evaluation of the military landings themselves that consigned so many men to "the glorious dead". The fact of the matter is that these men died as a direct result of their own commanders' planning. Despite all the experience gained at the cost of much blood in the Pacific, our military deliberately chose to land our troops directly into the teeth of the German defenses. Men whose landing craft were steered off course or taken there by the strong current largely landed intact with few losses. Those that were landed where they were supposed to were slaughtered.
Still and all, as a purely "human interest" type of story, the author has produced a good account of the lives of these "Bedford Boys". May their sacrifice always be remembered. Four stars.
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