Hi everyone, I wanted to let you know about 2 important new books I just read over the weekend: "The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice" by Alex Kershaw, which was the inspiration for Saving Private Ryan and "The Fighting First: The Untold Story of the Big Red One on D-Day" by Flint Whitlock. Has anyone else read these?? With the dedication of the WWII National Memorial over the weekend and the upcoming anniversary of D-Day, I just got so inspired to learn more about what the greatest generation went through. I highly recommend both these books - You'll be moved and proud and they'll make you think about our brave men and women overseas in Iraq. Alba711
Thanks for the posting, Alba711 and welcome to the forums ! Afraid that I haven't yet read either title - the 'Bedford' book is in the shops over here but the 'Big Red One' book is new to me and sounds like it might be interesting.
Welcome to the Forums Alba711. By the way, the June issue of World War II magazine has an article about the Bedford Boys (Company A, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division) and the heavy casualties they sustained on D-Day in the Dog Green Sector of Omaha Beach. If you are interested in other D-Day books which have a connection to "Saving Private Ryan," Stephen Ambrose's book Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest includes the story of Frederick 'Fritz' Niland, the real-life Jimmy Ryan. Niland was a 101st Airborne Division soldier who was pulled from combat after D-Day due to his three brothers having been reported as being killed-in-action. [ 01. June 2004, 04:11 PM: Message edited by: Deep Web Diver ]
Hello Alba, and welcome to the forums. By coincidence I just watched a item about the Bedford boys on a Dutch current affair TV show, in remberance of D-Day. They mentioned the book. They showed three veterans and had them tell their stories. Also the wife of MSgt Wilkes and the wife and the sister of another KIA. One veteran lost his brother on D-Day (his brother wanted to shake his hand before they got of the landing craft - 1st wave at Omaha beach- but he said, AH, forget it, I'll see you in Vierville....) He showed the cameracrew the graves of his brother and others killed and now buried in Bedford. An genuinely touching story. Think I am going to buy that book. It just brought home the personal tragedy of war and that the wounds still run deep. The small town of Bedford (3000 inhabitants) lost 19 sons on D-Day. Of the 70 that left for bootcamp in 1941, only 14 returned to Bedford alive.... BTW, that 1 Inf Div book sounds interesting too. Don't know it. Can you tell us what kind of book it is; Unit history? Personal memoires? [ 01. June 2004, 05:01 PM: Message edited by: Stevin ]
