In honor of this 82nd anniversary of D-Day, I thought I’d share a few pictures from the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA.

In 1996, 20 years ago, President Bill Clinton signed legislation that officially designated the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford as “the nation’s monument to D-Day.”

A year later,

Hundreds, including D-Day and World War II veterans, gathered for a groundbreaking ceremony on Veterans Day 1997. The Memorial would be built upon consecrated earth, a mixture of sand from the coast of Normandy and Bedford soil. The Foundation unveiled the Memorial’s first sculpture on Memorial Day 1999. The Overlord Arch, the signature monument, was under construction by spring 2000, in time for the dedication of the Memorial’s first phase that Memorial Day. On June 6, 2001, Bob Slaughter [founding committee member and D-Day Veteran] stood beside a second American president as George W. Bush dedicated the National D-Day Memorial on the invasion’s 57^th anniversary.

~ National D-Day Memorial Website, bracketed info mine

It’s truly a spectacular tribute to all those who sacrificed so much for our freedom. I really wish I could find more of the pictures we’ve taken there, though photos can’t do it justice. If you have a chance to visit, I promise you won’t be disappointed!

For more information about the D-Day Memorial, please visit https://www.dday.org.

May we never forget the “heroes who faced insurmountable odds to secure freedom for the world.”