Publication
Cambridge, Mass. : Da Capo Press, 2003.
Collection
Call number
History VA K
Physical description
xii, 274 p.; 24 cm
Status
Available
Call number
Description
Military. Nonfiction. HTML: The Bedford Boys is the astonishing true story of twenty-one young men who were killed during the first horrifying minutes of D-Day and the friends and families they left behind in the small town of Bedford. Twenty-one sons killed �?? no other town in America suffered a greater loss in one day. It is an unforgettable story of triumph, courage, and tragedy based on extensive interviews with survivors and relatives as well as diaries and letters. Alex Kershaw's remarkable book brings to vivid, heartbreaking life the hitherto untold story of one small American town, their sons, and the brutal, bloody war that deprived them of their futures.
Subjects
User reviews
LibraryThing member linedog1848
Deeply moving. Well written. Horrible. Kershaw again provides an eminently accessible, personal story, not belaboring the beach--a story told often and well in the past--but bringing a new and awful poignancy to the context in community and family of each of a commander's casualty report numbers.
He still hit one of my pet peeves by using the phrase "dead and wounded," which as a soldier and war veteran I find an offensively trite and naive lumping of two very different things under one heading--to a man under fire, and to his family, "wounded" and "completely unharmed" are more similar than are "wounded" and "dead." BUT he only did it once, and it really is a legitimate phrase, as it is the commander's way to track effective fighting strength and attrition. I just find it more appropriate for a book about the generals in the headquarters than a book about the men in the experience. Off my soapbox.
That was the only criticism. I loved the book, but it broke my heart. I found it particularly novel and important because WWII is perceived as being the classic Just War, with unanimous public support. It was not. Like every war, it had its detractors, and rightly so, for as horrific as wars are. Like every war, men on both sides committed atrocities and it is no service of history or of the memory of those who fought and died to mythologize the horrors of WWII, or to edit public and political dissent to American involvement out of the history books. Kershaw provided us with a non-evaluative, uncensored history of the social context, including the social dynamic of conscientious objectors and the criticisms of the administration, the commanders, the policies, the war, and even the survivors, by the families of the bereaved.
This book was a touching and excellently told account of an event unfathomably tragic regardless the strength of the justification or the accomplishment. True tale of Pyrrhic victory.
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He still hit one of my pet peeves by using the phrase "dead and wounded," which as a soldier and war veteran I find an offensively trite and naive lumping of two very different things under one heading--to a man under fire, and to his family, "wounded" and "completely unharmed" are more similar than are "wounded" and "dead." BUT he only did it once, and it really is a legitimate phrase, as it is the commander's way to track effective fighting strength and attrition. I just find it more appropriate for a book about the generals in the headquarters than a book about the men in the experience. Off my soapbox.
That was the only criticism. I loved the book, but it broke my heart. I found it particularly novel and important because WWII is perceived as being the classic Just War, with unanimous public support. It was not. Like every war, it had its detractors, and rightly so, for as horrific as wars are. Like every war, men on both sides committed atrocities and it is no service of history or of the memory of those who fought and died to mythologize the horrors of WWII, or to edit public and political dissent to American involvement out of the history books. Kershaw provided us with a non-evaluative, uncensored history of the social context, including the social dynamic of conscientious objectors and the criticisms of the administration, the commanders, the policies, the war, and even the survivors, by the families of the bereaved.
This book was a touching and excellently told account of an event unfathomably tragic regardless the strength of the justification or the accomplishment. True tale of Pyrrhic victory.
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LibraryThing member Kate_JJM
Extremely moving story of how a small town gave up a cohort of its youth. Many lasted mere seconds into the invasion of France. Affecting and well-written.
LibraryThing member xenchu
"I realized it didn't make ay difference whether one was a superior soldier, was more religious, or better character. People were being killed randomly and they could not help themselves." These were the words of a survivor of D-Day, one of the few from the village of Bedford, West Virginia.
This is the story of the men of Bedford who joined the National Guard to help them survive the Great Depression, who went to war, then to England where they trained hard for eighteen months then went to die on Omaha Beach in Normandy. The story was well-written, moving and deeply troubling. It is the terrible story of War. I recommend this book.
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Nineteen men from Bedford died on D-Day, the most from anywhere in America.This is the story of the men of Bedford who joined the National Guard to help them survive the Great Depression, who went to war, then to England where they trained hard for eighteen months then went to die on Omaha Beach in Normandy. The story was well-written, moving and deeply troubling. It is the terrible story of War. I recommend this book.
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LibraryThing member ark76
I highly recommend The Bedford Boys for those readers interested in learning history, but who need to feel personally connected to the historical characters in order to enjoy the "story". The book reads like a story, but provides a detailed account of the experiences of both the homefront, a small
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Depression-hit town in Central Virginia, and the inexperienced, young GI going off to war. It also gives a higly detailed account of the military plans leading up to D-Day and the reality of the events as they unfolded that morning. Prior to this reading, most of my information was from watching Private Ryan. This book is consistent with the historical version of that film, but shows it from the perspective of young, scared teenagers, at the mercy of the larger military machine looking at the grand picture of the invasion. This would be a great book for a high school history class to consider, especially an honors or AP level. Show Less
LibraryThing member shannonkearns
a really interesting and well written book about the town of bedford virginia and the landing on d-day. 19 young soldiers were killed in the opening minutes of d-day all from the town of bedford. this book follows the training of the unit, the stories of the families back home, and the aftermath of
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d-day both in the men who served and the families who lost loved ones. i found this book to be incredibly moving and it really made the immense loss of d-day hit home in a profound way. i highly recom...morea really interesting and well written book about the town of bedford virginia and the landing on d-day. 19 young soldiers were killed in the opening minutes of d-day all from the town of bedford. this book follows the training of the unit, the stories of the families back home, and the aftermath of d-day both in the men who served and the families who lost loved ones. i found this book to be incredibly moving and it really made the immense loss of d-day hit home in a profound way. i highly recommend this one. Show Less
LibraryThing member gldyson
As I read each name of the Bedford Boys I couldn't help but flip through the memorial section to see if that soldier survived. I will always prefer books that focus on the individual soldiers and their stories over those that try to generalize the strategy.This is a very well written account of one
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region's sacrifice on DDAY as a part of "the greatest generation." Show Less
LibraryThing member mike.stephenson
listened to audio version, great book.
LibraryThing member bnbookgirl
Amazing story of one town's participation and sacrifice in the D-Day assault. It was so interesting getting the back stories and then following these boys into the battle.
Language
Original publication date
2003
ISBN
9780306811678