National D-Day Memorial pool with Overlord Arch

The National D-Day Memorial is a national war memorial located in Bedford, Virginia. It serves as the national memorial for US D-Day veterans. It stands in tribute to the valor, fidelity and sacrifice of all Allied Armed Forces during the D-Day Invasion of Normandy, France on June 6, 1944 during World War II. In 1944, Bedford had a population of about 3,200. Because this community proportionally suffered the nation’s severest D-Day losses, the United States Congress authorized construction of the memorial in Bedford.^[1]

[edit] The Memorial

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According to the National D-Day Memorial Foundation, the memorial is a continuum of three distinct plazas which follow on a time line. The first plaza, Reynold's Garden, symbolizes the planning and preparation activities for the invasion through the execution of the order for the invasion. It is in the shape of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force combat patch. The second level, Gray Plaza, reflects the landing and fighting stages of the invasion. It includes what is called the invasion pool with beach obstacles in the water, sculptures of soldiers struggling ashore, and a representation of the Higgins craft used for the invasion. This section includes intermittent jets of water spurting from the pool replicating the sights and sounds of sporadic gunfire. The names of the United States' losses appear on the west necrology wall of the central plaza, the Allies' losses on the east necrology wall. In the spirit of Dwight Eisenhower's one-team command philosophy for the AEF, no other distinctions are made.^[1] The last and uppermost plaza, Estes Plaza, celebrates victory and includes the Overlord Arch and the twelve flags of those Allied nations that served in the Allied Expeditionary Force. The Overlord Arch represents the victory of Operation Overlord and bears the invasion date of June 6, 1944 in its height at 44 feet and 6 inches tall. Dedicated in 2001, over 1 million people have visited the site.^[1]

[edit] See also

• National Museum of the Pacific War
• National World War II Memorial
• National World War II Museum
• United States Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima)

Coordinates: 37°19′50″N 79°32′10″W / 37.33056°N 79.53611°W / 37.33056; -79.53611

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• http://www.dday.org/
• http://www.Omaha-Beach.Org