National D-Day Memorial
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Located in Bedford, Virginia, the National D-Day Memorial is dedicated to the soldiers who perished in the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on June 6, 1944. It is located in Bedford because the town suffered the highest per capita losses in the country during the invasion.
Images
Aerial view of the entire memorial
Plaques containing the names of Allied soldiers who died in the invasion
The arch, inscribed with "Overlord", the name given to the invasion
President George W. Bush and his mother, Barbara, laying a wreath at the memorial on June 6, 2001
The invasion pool
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The idea for the memorial began in 1988 when the National D-Day Memorial Foundation was established. The process gained some steam when, in 1994, the town of Bedford donated some land for the memorial. From that point forward it took seven more years to raise the $25 million dollars and construct the memorial. Finally, on June 6th, 2001, the memorial opened and was dedicated in a ceremony lead by President George W. Bush. At the ceremony, George Bush gave a powerful speech, which included this quote that resonated with many Americans: “Fifty-seven years ago, America and the nations of Europe formed a bond
that has never been broken. And all of us incurred a debt that can never
be repaid. Today, as America dedicates our D-Day Memorial, we pray that
our country will always be worthy of the courage that delivered us from
evil and saved the free world.”
The National D-Day Memorial is a very large memorial–88 acres—and
comprised of three plazas. One is dedicated towards the planning and
preparation of the invasion, another depicts statues of soldiers landing
and fighting in an invasion pool, and the third plaza has a recreation
of a Higgins aircraft that was used during the invasion.These three plazas take viewers through the politics and peril that encompass the time period of the war. The most
prominent feature of the memorial is the 44 foot tall arch which is
inscribed with the word Overlord, the name given to the invasion. Names
of the American and other Allied soldiers who died are inscribed on two
short walls in the center of the memorial.
The memorial is now apart of the most popular war memorials within the United States, receiving approximately 60,000 visitors annually.
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_D-Day_Memorial
http://www.dday.org/the-memorial/the-vision