Thousands gather at Bedford D-Day Memorial

BEDFORD — Casey Jones Jr. saw her father cry for the first time in her life Saturday as he participated in the 65th anniversary of the Normandy invasion at the National D-Day Memorial.

Casey Jones Sr., a Navy veteran, landed in Normandy in the days following the initial assault. For him, his daughter said, the observance brought back memories of the burial of thousands of soldiers.

He had just started talking about his World War II experiences in recent years, she said, and Saturday was the first time to her knowledge that he ever has attended a veteran’s event.

“He never really put in any emotion to it until we got here,” said Casey Jones Jr., who drove to Bedford with her father from Texas. “This is one of the finest war memorials I’ve ever seen.”

Memorial staff estimated that more than six thousand visitors flocked to the site Saturday for the largest gathering in several years. Many of them were veterans. During the late-morning commemoration ceremony in the site’s central plaza, D-Day veterans stood and received applause from the patriotic audience.

The artificial bullet sounds that typically ring out in the plaza’s pool were silenced as speakers talked of the “deafening sound” of German gunshots raining down on soldiers as they struggled to advance on the beaches.

Alex Kershaw, the author who wrote “The Bedford Boys” and detailed the sacrifice of the city of Bedford on June 6, 1944, was one of the speakers. So were Reps. Tom Perriello, D-5th District, and Bob Goodlatte, R-6th District.

Throughout the ceremony and the day, the ever-growing loss of D-Day veterans was palpable.

William McIntosh, the memorial foundation’s president, noted that there were thousands of D-Day veterans in attendance at the site’s dedication in 2001, and hundreds at the 60th anniversary in 2004. There were even fewer in attendance Saturday, he said.

Among the missing was Ray Nance, the last of Bedford’s soldiers who stormed Omaha Beach. The town lost 19 men in the first wave of the assault, the highest per capita of anywhere in the U.S. Nance died in April at age 94, and his hearse was driven around the memorial grounds before his burial in a nearby cemetery.

The memorial foundation organized this year’s anniversary as an opportunity to honor the D-Day veterans while they are still living.

“Your character remains at the heart of this place,” McIntosh said to the veterans. “We do remember and we will remember long after you are gone, for generations yet unborn.”

The anniversary event comes as the financially struggling memorial is at risk of closure.

McIntosh said last week that the site needs either a major increase in cash or a new form of ownership to continue operating. The nonprofit has an annual budget of $2.2 million, he said, and brings in about $600,000 from ticket sales and tours. Donations have taken a hit from the economy and the rise in gas prices over the past few years, he said.

Perriello was involved in introducing legislation to Congress last week that could lead to the National Park Service assuming operations of the memorial.

“Not only could that help with the financial trouble but it also gives it the national recognition it deserves because this is something that should belong to all Americans,” Perriello said in an interview on Saturday.

“The end goal is obviously to make sure this monument is in good hands forever. This will help with the promotion through the national park system for more and more people to know about it.”

Several visitors to the memorials also supported the federal government’s involvement.

“It’s the least they could do,” said Donna Ward of Raleigh, N.C.

M.H. Green, Ward’s father, is an 84-year-old veteran who was aboard the USS Rich that sank on June 8, 1944. He attended Saturday with his granddaughter, Mollie, and great-granddaughter. Mollie said it’s a place where she wants to see her young daughter one day bring children of her own. “I think she’ll want to keep coming back,” Mollie said. “I know I will.”

H.B. Sims, who also was on the USS Rich, traveled from outside Atlanta to pay tribute to his fallen comrades.

“These guys did what no other generation did before,” said Greg Logwood, a Blacksburg resident who sought autographs from D-Day vets. “After they’re gone, we can only read about it.”

Barbara Satterwhite of Richmond visited Saturday for the first time since 2001. A native of Canada, she said her late father had arrived at Normandy a week after the invasion. She described the memorial as “phenomenal” and videotaped it for her father, who was never able to visit.

“He was impressed,” she said. “It’s a beautiful memorial. It’s a piece of history that shouldn’t be lost.”

Grant “Gully” Gullickson, 88, of Virginia Beach, was pulled from the waters after two hours on June 6, 1944. He said Saturday he could remember boarding his ship on April 20 with a friend who called his wife from a pay phone. The friend, who died during the invasion, asked his wife to put his infant daughter up to the phone and pinch her so he could hear her cry.

“I can see their faces as if it were yesterday,” he said of fallen comrades whose names are on plaques at the memorial.

For years he said he didn’t like to talk about the experience, but realized as he got older that sharing his memories helps to educate younger generations.

He spent more than 900 days at sea and those five years were the most exciting of his life, he said. He said he often thinks about what could have happened if Hitler had not been stopped.

Jim Swanson, an 84-year-old veteran from Winston-Salem, N.C., was part of the 90th Infantry Division and stormed Utah Beach. The memories of the battle remain fresh, the Purple Heart recipient said.

A gunner in front of him disappeared in the water and Swanson never knew what happened to him. “That stands out in my mind because I was right behind him.”

He remembers running across the beach and taking cover in a sand dune to avoid the gunfire. The extensive training he received was the only reason he survived, he said.

“I was in good shape — I could run from here almost back to Winston,” he laughed.

The he added: “I wouldn’t wish it on anybody else, but if I had to do it again under those circumstances, I would.”