D-Day Memorial Statue
This beautifully-crafted bronze statue was created by the French sculptor Yannec Tomada. It is called Valor, Fidelity, Sacrifice, and is located on Overlord Circle, part of the American National D-Day Memorial, which opened in 2001 at Bedford, VA.
A replica of the statue, called Ever Forward, can be found on the beachfront at Vierville, Normandy, where it was installed in 2014 on the 70th anniversary of D-Day.
Both are intended to depict soldiers of the 116th Infantry Regimental Combat Team of the Virginia National Guard, part of the 29th Infantry Division. Vierville is where the 116th Infantry landed on D-Day, with four of the regiment's infantry companies in each of the first three waves assaulting Omaha Beach.
Thirty-four Virginia National Guard soldiers from the town of Bedford were part of D-Day. Nineteen of them were killed during the first day of the invasion, and four more died during the rest of the Normandy campaign. The town and the "Bedford Boys" had proportionately suffered the greatest losses of the campaign amongst US urban areas, leading to the US Congress locating the D-Day memorial in Bedford.
D-Day Memorial Statue
This beautifully-crafted bronze statue was created by the French sculptor Yannec Tomada. It is called Valor, Fidelity, Sacrifice, and is located on Overlord Circle, part of the American National D-Day Memorial, which opened in 2001 at Bedford, VA.
A replica of the statue, called Ever Forward, can be found on the beachfront at Vierville, Normandy, where it was installed in 2014 on the 70th anniversary of D-Day.
Both are intended to depict soldiers of the 116th Infantry Regimental Combat Team of the Virginia National Guard, part of the 29th Infantry Division. Vierville is where the 116th Infantry landed on D-Day, with four of the regiment's infantry companies in each of the first three waves assaulting Omaha Beach.
Thirty-four Virginia National Guard soldiers from the town of Bedford were part of D-Day. Nineteen of them were killed during the first day of the invasion, and four more died during the rest of the Normandy campaign. The town and the "Bedford Boys" had proportionately suffered the greatest losses of the campaign amongst US urban areas, leading to the US Congress locating the D-Day memorial in Bedford.