Author: Samuel Wojcik
Interviewer: Paul Hanna
The allied invasion of Normandy, June 6th, 1944, was the largest amphibious assault in history. Allied ground forces, consisting of American, British, Canadian, Polish and French troops were accompanied by naval bombardment and airborne assault as they attempted to penetrate Hitler’s Atlantic Wall. Among these many divisions of brave men was the U.S Army’s 29th Infantry Division, known as the, “Blue and Greys”. Formally a National Guard Unit this division, based in Fort Belvoir, Virginia consisted of units coming from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and West Virginia. Along with the First Infantry Division, the 29th were among the first units to storm the beaches of Normandy during Operation Overlord, more commonly known as D-Day. About 35 of these men came from a small town in Virginia, close to the Blue Ridge Mountains, called Bedford. This quiet, country town was especially hard hit when the 29th Division came ashore on Omaha beach where some of the heaviest casualties occurred. If it were not for the brave men of the 29th division, and their sacrifice in the service to their country, the allied invasion would have been halted in France and would not have gained the momentum they needed to push the Nazis back to Berlin and win the war.