The document provides a tour script for students visiting the National D-Day Memorial. It outlines three key stops on the tour: 1) the statue called Homage, which commemorates local men from Bedford, Virginia who lost their lives on D-Day; 2) the English Garden, which focuses on the planning that took place before D-Day; 3) a stop highlighting General Eisenhower, the main planner of D-Day, who is depicted discussing fly-fishing to connect with soldiers. The tour script honors the sacrifices of the Bedford Boys and others from small towns across America, and outlines the immense coordination required for the largest amphibious invasion in history.

1. NATIONAL D-DAY MEMORIAL TOUR SCRIPT FOR MIDDLE
AND HIGH SCHOOLERS
Beforewe get started, we just wantto let everyoneknow that we will
not have time to look at all of the Memorial duringour tour. However,
we do suggest you guystake a walk around thesite at your paceafter
the tour if you have time. If you do that, you will get more of an
understanding of the geopolitical landscapebeforeand after D-Day. 3
D-Day wasthe largest land, air, and sea battle ever undertaken. The
invasion included over 5,000 ships, 11,000airplanes, and over 150,000
service men includingall of the peopleyou arerepresentingtoday. D-
Day was literally the turningpointof World War IIand it signaled the
beginning of the end of Hitler’s dream of Nazi domination.
As wewalk through the Memorial, we will see that it is laid out
chronologically to outline the three crucial phases of Operation
OVERLORD, which is the codename for the invasion of German
occupied France.
StopOne: Bob Slaughter

2.  Up untilthe late 1980’s, therewasnot any mention of a memorial
commemoratingD-Day untilBob Slaughter, a veteran of D-Day
from Roanoke, talked about how he wanted one.
 Eventually, Congresschose to place the memorialhere, but chose
to NOT make it a national park. The National D-Day Memorialis a
nonprofiteducationalfoundation.
 The “Peanuts” cartoonist, Charles Schulz, (you know, Snoopy?)
donated onemillion dollarsto the project and accepted leadership
of the nationalfundraisingcampaign to build the memorialuntil
his death in February 2000.
 On June6, 2001 theMemorialofficially opened to the public.
 Over 24,000peopleattended that day, includingseveralhundred
D-Day veteransand PresidentGeorge W. Bush.

3. --Now we’regoing to makea stop at the statue called Homage, which
commemoratessome very special veterans.
StopTwo: Homage
On your nametags, you have the namesof the individualsthisstatue
represents: the Bedford Boys. Theseyounggentlemen grew up together
in the small county of Bedford, and mostof them never went farther
than Roanokeor Lynchburguntiltheir National Guard unitwas
mobilized. The first time that Company A, which wasmade up of most of
the Bedford boys, saw action was on June6, 1944.
 On D-Day, the town of Bedford lostmoremen percentagewise
than any other in the United States.
 That is one of the many reasonsas to why the National D-Day
Memorialis located here in Bedford.
 Bedford lost19 men on D-Day and three morelater on in the war.
They were brothers, sons, cousins, and friendsto those at home
and whom they foughtwith in the war.
 Interesting Fact: Four of the Bedford Boyswerea partof the team
that won the European Theater of Operations World Series in
1943.

4.  The Statue Itself
 This statue is symbolic; it representscommunitieslike Bedford
that had to grieve for community membersthat didn’tmake it
home.
 There were 33 sets of brothers from the 29th Division 116th
Regiment Company A, specifically three from Bedford: the
Powers, Hoback, and Stevens brothers. Ask: If youhave the last
name Powers, come stand next to me. If youhave the last name
Hoback, come stand on my other side. If youhave the last name
Stevens, come stand in front of me.
Ray and Roy Stevens came from a farm family of 14 children. The
twins grew up duringthe hard times of the GreatDepression. Both had
to drop outof school to help their family. Like many twins, they were
close and did many things together, buyinga 130-acrefarm and even
dating twin sisters for a while. Before they climbed aboard their landing
craft in preparation for D-Day, Roy recalled that they would shake
handswhen they met again on shore, but Ray ignored him. Today, our
victory garden to the right of the education tent is named in honor of the
Stevens family.

5. Earl Parker raise your hand—Asyou weretrainingin the daysbefore
the invasion, you wereshowingoff picturesof your newborn baby girl.
Put your hand down.
Tony Marsico,Elmere Wright,and Frank Draper Jr. raise your
hands—you allplayed baseball together back home in Bedford and
enjoyed a few games through your training, too, sharing a lovefor the
sport. Put your hands down.
Taylor Fellers,Leslie Abbott Jr., Gordon White Jr., CliftonG. Lee
raise your hands—you wereallon a landingcraft together on D-Day,
probably bondingover your fear. Put your hands down.
John Cliftonand Weldon Rosazza—raiseyour hands…theseboys were
the ladies’ men, alwaysout tryingto impressgirls together. Put your
hands down.
Bedford and RaymondHoback, raise your hands—another set of
brothers from Bedford. Put your handsdown.
Grant Yopp and the Stevens brothers, raise your hands—asweknow,
the Ray and Roy were brothers, but Grantwas basically an adopted
brother into the Stevens family. Put your handsdown.
Charles Fizer and HaroldWilkes raise your hand—served on aboat
team together on D-Day. Put your handsdown.

6. Jack Mitchell, Earl Newcomb,Cedric Broughman, George Crouch
raise your hands—you allcooked with the mess sergeant, Earl, for
Company A. Put your handsdown.
Allen Huddlestonand Robert Goode raise your hands—Goodewasa
jeep driver under theleadership of Huddleston. Put your handsdown.
Dickie Overstreet and JohnWilkes raise your hands—these
gentlemen were on a Higgins boat together on D-Day. Put your hands
down.
Jack and Clyde Powers raise your hands—another set of Bedford
brothers. Put your hands down.
John Schenk raise your hand—Schenk had already established a life
back home in Bedford. Hewasin charge of a hardwarestore and was
married. He and his wife agreed to pauseand think about each other at
5 p.m. everyday. Put your handsdown.
Wallace Carter raise your hand—Little Wallace was a pro at games of
chance like pooland had a big brother who they called Big SnakeEyes,
which is why his nicknamewas “Little SnakeEyes.” Put your hands
down.
Ray Nance and John Reynolds raise your hands—they saw battle
together on D-Day. Put your handsdown.

7. Nick Gillaspie, Anthony Thurman, JamesLancaster, James Watson—
raise your hands. Although we don’tknow muchabout these gentlemen,
it is plain to see that like the others they probably had families,
girlfriends, hobbies, etc. at home that they sacrificed when joining the
National Guard. Put your handsdown.
Ask: What kinds of thingsor people would yoube giving up if youwent to
serve our country?
Our Memorialembodies the ideas of valor (bravery), fidelity (loyalty
and friendship), and sacrifice (giving one’s life for another). All of the
Bedford boyshad these qualities, and as we go through the Memorial
pay attention to how these qualities might have come into play and
where you as a Bedford boy might be and how he might be feeling.
We’veseen how everyonewas connected and knew each other from the
small town of Bedford. However, thisstatue not only representsthe
Bedford boys, butmany other small townsin the United States that
suffered from the war.
--Now wewill moveto the start of our Memorial’sstory of D-Day in the
English Garden.
StopThree: The Start of the Garden Walkway

8. Overview of What Led to D-Day
 Hitler, the leader of the Nazis in Germany began taking over other
countriessuch as Poland and France
 The U.S. did not get involved untilthe Japanesebombed Pearl
Harbor on December 7, 1941.
 GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower was given the task of formingthe
largest invasion fleet in history in order to have an amphibious
landingon the northern coast of Francecalled Operation
Overlord. If Operation Overlord wassuccessful, the landingwould
be the starting pointfor the Allies to start taking back Europe
from the Nazis.
 In Augustof 1944, theAllies freed Francefrom the Germansby
capturingParis and it all began with D-Day.
Why is it called the ReynoldsGarden?
 This garden is called the ReynoldsGarden named after Richard S.
ReynoldsSenior. He wasan industrialist-poetwho foresaw his
country’sneed for aluminum. Heplaced his fortuneand
reputation in the balance to produceenoughaluminum for the
U.S. to build and sustain the air force that gave the Allies
overwhelmingair-superiority for D-Day.

9. Focus of the Garden
 The garden focuseson the activities and planningthat took place
before then SupremeCommander Eisenhower issued theD-Day
Order.
 This is the patch of the SupremeHeadquartersof the Allied
Expeditionary Force.
 These guysdid all of the planningfor D-Day in England, which is
where our troopsleft from to get to France on D-Day.
 Our garden is set up like a typicalgarden in England, but in the
shape of the S.H.A.E.F. patch.
 In frontof the S.H.A.E.F. patch on the back wall is a rainbow of
flowers, just like on the patch. The big bunchblue in that rainbow
was there to representthe hopefor the future. The rest of the
rainbow was for the colors of the flags of all of the countries that
helped on D-Day. The black represents the bad guysand how they
didn’tlet the peopledo what they wanted. The shield and the
sword represented how we weregoing to fight until the bad guys
stopped doingwhat they were doingto the peopleof Europe.

10. StopFour: Along the Left Side of the Garden
 LieutenantGeneral Omar N. Bradley—AssaultCommander;
commanded U.S. ground forces.
 AdmiralSir Bertam H. Ramsey—Allied Navy Commander from
England; commanded thenavalphase of the Allied landingsin
Normandy
 Air Chief MarshalSir Arthur William Tedder—Deputy Supreme
Commander (Second in Command to Eisenhower)
StopFive: Eisenhower

11.  GeneralEisenhower from America was the main planner of D-Day.
He’s situated under the house wehave in our garden.
 This houserepresents the Southwick House wherethe planners
actually met, and where Eisenhower madethe finaldecision to
launch D-Day on June6th.
Ask: How do you thinkGeneral Eisenhower lookshere? Stern?Lecturing?
 In this statue, Eisenhower, also known as“Ike,” is discussingfly-
fishing with a Lieutenantof the 101st AirborneDivision shortly
before they deployed.
 Ike knew he wassendingthese soldiers into danger and knew a
lot of them would notmake it home. So, instead of lecturing them,
he decided to connectwith them, and this particular soldier had
an interest in common with Ike: fly-fishing.
Ask: How would youas a Bedford boy feel getting to chat with your
Supreme Commander? Scared? Happy?

12.  GeneralEisenhower used a toy company in England to create the
map for the invasion.
 The map wasn’tputtogether untilthe day before D-Day because
Eisenhower didn’twantthe top-secret mission to fall into the
wronghands.
 He even designed the map as a puzzle. If you look at the top of the
house he’s standing in, you can see a replica of it.
At this pointin their journey, theBedford boysof Company A were
training in England. They werepreparingfor something, but they
weren’tsure exactly what. Just like Eisenhower tried to keep it a secret
from the enemies, he keptit a secret from his troops just to make sure
no one accidentally gave it away. They had been training for months in
England and werewaiting in anticipation of what wasto come.

13. StopSix: Along the Right Side of the Garden
 Field Marshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery—BritishAssault
Commander; led the 21st Army Group on D-Day
 Air Chief MarshalSir Trafford L. Leigh-Mallory—Allied Air
Commander; Air Commander in Chief of the Allied Expeditionary
Force
 LieutenantGeneral Bedell“Beetle” Smith—Chief of Staff; who
would later serveas U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union and
Direct the CIA.
StopSeven: The Southern Wall of the Garden
 The plaqueson this wall are in honor of the Infantry Regiments
that served on D-Day.
 The big plaque here has Eisenhower’sOrder of the Day on it,
which wasgiven to each troop as he filed into his transportand
landingcraft on D-Day. Eisenhower delivered this order to the
troopsin order to encourage them to perseveredespite the fact
that Eisenhower believed there wasa real possibility the invasion
might fail. He even wrote a note taking fullresponsibility if it
failed, but luckily he didn’tneed to use it.

14. Have one child be Eisenhower, get help fromchaperone to choose which
child, and have themread the Order of the Day. Whenthey are through
ASK: do youthink thisOrder motivated the troopsto do their best even
though they might not have the best circumstances? Do youthink the boys
of Bedford were still scared asthey boarded their boatsthat day?
Remember they were not altogether, but a lot of themwere grouped
together: the kidsfromthe small townof Bedford, VA, would become men
later that day.
StopEight: The Bronzed Battle Map ofthe Invasion
 Point outwhere Company A landed on the bronzemap, as well as
other Virginia companiessuch as Lynchburg’sCompany B or
Roanoke’sCompany D.
--Now weare going to moveout of the planningphaseand transition to
the actual invasion on June6, 1944.
StopNine: The Exterior of Gray Plaza
 The Gray Plazais named after the HonorableEmon T. Gray who
served in the Navy in the Pacific Theater of WWIIand later served
in the Virginia Senate and exemplified the qualities the Memorial
exists to honor: valor, fidelity, and sacrifice.

15.  Justa reminder that valor meansto be brave, fidelity meansto be
loyal and friendly, and sacrificemeans to give one’s life for
another.
Tell them: whenyouwalk across the bridge, lookfor statuesof soldiers
that show each of the Memorial values. Hint: Each value is found in two
different statuesaround the bridge.
 Gray Plazasignifies the landingand fighting stage of the invasion.
The plazais set up into fivesections that representthe five
beaches on D-Day.
 On June6, 1944, troopslanded in Normandy, Franceon fivecode-
named beaches: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.
 There were many countriesinvolved on D-Day, and if you turn
around towardsthe garden you can see the 4,413 namesof the
soldiers that landed on the beaches of Normandy that day and
paid the ultimate sacrifice.
 There were I, which you can see to the left, but there were
soldiers from other countries, which you can see to the right. We
have all of the namesof the soldiersthat died on D-Day on the
plaques along the walls.

16.  There are so many American flagsbecause of one beach in
particular: Omaha. Omaha beach was the deadliestbeach on D-
Day. Omaha beach was also where most of the boysfrom Bedford
in Company A landed on D-Day.
 The National D-Day Memorial Foundation worked for seven years
with governmentaland military officials of the twelve Allied
Expeditionary Forcenations to confirm by name, nation, and
service the some4,413 peoplewho died on D-Day.
Turn to face the arch.
 On D-Day when the soldiers landed, they did not know how long
they were going to go without supplies. Their goal was to capture
the beach so they could get their ships with suppliesat least to
there; however, they had to travel all the way inland to Germany if
they wanted to end the war.
 As they traveled inland they would get farther away from their
supplies. So, they woreor carried everything they might need for
a few months. Soldiers worewool uniformsthat would keep them
warm if they were wet or in the winters, even though the wool
would makethem super hot in the summer.

17.  They worehelmets to protect their heads from shrapnel, or
debris, notbullets.
 They had a gas mask in case gas got into the air like it did in World
War I and a canteen to hold their water.
 Thirty-six soldiersand all of their gear had to fit into a Higgins
boat which carried them some of the way across the English
Channelfrom the big navy ships. The Bedford boysfrom Company
A weremade up of 35 soldiers, so them plusonehad to squeeze
onto oneof these landingcrafts.
--Because you are all in Company A from Bedford, wearegoing to walk
over to our Omaha beach and swim through the channelto the Higgins
Boat. Do it.
StopTen: The Higgins Boat
 The soldierswere crammed in pretty tight with 36 soldiers in one
of these boats. The boats werenot madeof the nice thick granite
oursis made of. Instead, they weremade of quarter inch plywood,
which rocked and rolled with the ocean. As you can imagine, a lot
of the soldiersgot seasick, but packed in so tightly they couldn’t
get to the edge. The soldiers would barf in their helmets and wait

18. for a momentto dump itout. Then their helmet would go right
back on their heads.
 The frontof the Higgins boat, or LCVP, would drop down into the
water and the soldierswould run out. Now, because the invasion
began from the water, soldierswore a life belt that would help
keep them afloat. Ask: Do youthink it actually helped themfloat
eventhough they were weighed downwith all of their gear? No.
Some of them didn’tknow how to swim, like Roy Stevens (raise
your hand), who had to be saved by ClydePowers(raise your
hand). However, a lot of the soldiers drowned beforethey even
got to the beaches on D-Day, which you can see represented by
the man right on the edge of the water. Some were injured upon
landing, like Anthony Thurman (raise your hand), and John Wilkes
(raise your hand).
 A second obstacle that prevented someof the soldiersfrom
reaching the beaches wasthe hedgehog that you can see in our
scene. The hedgehogs were meantto rip open the bottoms of
boats, which wouldn’tbe too difficultin our thin wooden Higgins
boats. Sometimes the enemy would attach minesto the hedgehogs
so they would blow up when a boat touched them. Because of this,

19. the Allied forces understood that it wascrucial to land at low tide
so they could see obstacles such as the hedgehogs in the water.
 Another obstacle wasthe “German Wall,” where the Germans
built mines and obstacles all along the Normandy coastas a
defensemechanism—morethan 6 million in all. The wall behind
the bridge that hides our restrooms waspoured in the style of
German bunkers. The bunkerswerewhere the German soldiers
were able to concentrate machine gun fireonto the beaches.
These bunkerscould take a direct hit from navalgunsand remain
intact.
 The sculpturescaling the wall representsvalor, fidelity, and
sacrifice that the Memorialseeks to honor. Some believe it was
symbolizingof the climbing over the cliffs to victory.
 The sculpturesof the troopsin the water werenot created as
depictionsof any particular soldier. Onesculpturerepresents
valor (bravery), one representsfidelity (loyalty and friendship),
and the third representssacrifice (givingone’s life for another).
 The onethat representssacrifice is holding a Bible, which
resembles of oneof the Bedford Boys, Raymond Hoback (raise
your hand), whose Bible was found on the beach.

20.  Raymond received aBible from his mother as a Christmas gift
when he was eighteen. Receiving your own bible was a rite of
passage, and he took it seriously. He kept his Bible close at hand
and took it with him when the Bedford NationalGuard Company
was mobilized in 1941. FollowingD-Day, therewerereportsof
fierce fighting as the Allies moved deeper into France.
--We’ll have a few minutesto cross the bridge and take in the scene of
the valor, fidelity, and sacrifice of the troops, but first wewill walk over
to our memorial to the water aspect of the invasion.
StopEleven: The Anchor and Coast GuardBell
 The bell and the anchor we have represented at the Memorial
representthe Coast Guard and the Navy of the Allied forces, who
played a very importantrole on D-Day.
 The Coast Guard and Navy shipstransported the allied soldiersto
the middleof the English Channelso they could board their
Higgins boats. They also shot their big gunstowardsthe shore to
try to eliminate the German enemy that was stationed on the
beaches.

21.  Most of those gentlemen mademany tripsback and forth from the
boats that day, each time risking their lives more and more.
 The codename for the water partof the invasion wasOperation
Neptune, and Operation Neptuneplayed ahuge role in the entire
invasion: Operation Overlord.
--The waterfall wehave there did not exist on the beaches of Normandy,
but is there to representthe chaos of the beaches on D-Day. There were
dyingpeople, explosions, gunshots, and screams of the wounded.It
would be almost impossible to hear your neighbor. As you walk across,
imagine you werea boy from Bedford who had never left homeor seen
battle and how scared and chaotic it musthave been. I will not try to
talk as wecross, but I will give you two minutesto walk across the
bridge and take in the scene on the beach. Remember to be respectful,
as this scene representsthe valor, fidelity, and sacrifice of the troopson
D-Day.
StopTwelve: The Bridge
Let the kids have two minutesto walk across the bridge and take in the
scene.

22. StopThirteen: The L3 Plane
 Planessimilar to this onewere used duringOperation Overlord.
Fighting land and sea were crucial to the invasion, but it is
importantto remember the differenttypesof air power that were
used, too.
 The airplanewe have displayed atthe Memorialis nicknamed the
“grasshopper” because when landingit hops like a grasshopper.
For D-Day, the planeshad black and white stripes on them so the
Allied knew they weretheir planes. The planesplayed an
importantrole even before D-Day itself. They dropped
paratroopersin the night before D-Day to try to gain ground
inland. The planewe have, though, is a spy plane. It fits two
people: the pilot and a spy, who would look for enemy groupings.
You can also see on the top of our arch the samecolors
represented. Asthe planeswere flyingover the townsof
Normandy they probably saw a lot of rooftops, which is what the
black and white things on the top of the arch are also
representing.
 Another version of air power: The only group of African
Americansto land on June6, 1944 waspartof the 320th Barrage

23. Balloon Battalion. BarrageBalloonswere filled with helium and
designed to protect ships and troops from air bombings. The steel
cables that supported the balloonscould cut off an enemy plane’s
wing.
--Now wemarch to victory in France! Have the kids march with youup to
the archway.
StopFourteen: In between the Arch and The Final Tribute
 Our arch is 44 feet 6 inches tall symbolizingthe year of D-Day,
which was1944and the day of D-Day, June 6th. The Arch was
chosen at the Memorialto symbolizevictory because after
entering and freeingParis, the peoplecelebrated the troopswith a
paradethat included marchingthrough the Arc de Triomphe. Ask:
Who knows what triumph means?
 That triumphdid come at a cost, however. The statue here, The
Final Tribute, honorsthe valor and fidelity of fallen troops, and is
obviousof their sacrifice. It is a representation of the way shallow,
temporary graveswere marked duringWWII: soldier’srifle
upsidedown (later taken for someoneelse to use), his helmet
placed on top, and dog tag hanging on the hat as well as a dogtag

24. in the troop’steeth. They placed a tag in the teeth because the
teeth were the last to decay on a body, and if the dog tag stayed in
the teeth they could identify the body.
 This ultimate sacrifice and the valor and fidelity that came with it
are what our Memorialtries to represent. If you look at the seal
under the arch, you will see the lion that representsthe valor or
bravery, the dogthat representsfriendship or fidelity, and the
pelican that representssacrifice.
 19 outof 35 of the Bedford boyspaid the ultimate sacrifice that
day. Ask: I would like all youto line up in three rows. If I call your
name, I would like youto step forward through the arch. Cedric
Broughman, George Crouch,Charles Fizer, Robert Goode,
Allen Huddleston,James Lancaster, Robert Marisco,Jack
Mitchell,Ray Nance, Earl Newcomb,Dickie Overstreet,Clyde
Powers,Roy Stevens,Anthony Thurman, James Watson, and
HaroldWilkes.
--These gentlemen are the only ones to make it through D-Day. On
Sunday, July 15th, 1944, thecitizens of Bedford wereup getting ready for
church and their Sunday morningroutineswhen the telegrams started
arriving. The families and friendsof 19 Bedford boysreceived the news

25. that their boys werenot coming home. They truly embodied the ideas of
valor, fidelity, and sacrifice.
StopFifteen: The Memorial Seal
 Our seal representsthe valor through the lion, the fidelity through
the dog, and the sacrifice through the female pelican giving up her
youngon our seal.
StopSixteen: The Other Side of the Archway, Facing the Flags
 There were 12 countriesthat participated in the Allied D-Day
invasion. All of the flags behind the arch representeach of these
countries. From right to left they are: the United States, Australia,
Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Norway, Poland, and theUnited Kingdom.
Tell them: I hope youlearned about D-Day in a little more personal way
today through our BedfordBoys. Please let me know if youhave any more
questionsand feel free to explore the StettinusParade infront of us
and/or take pictures. Thankyoufor your time.