Submitted by Edward Munster
(May 27, 2025) — The Haddam Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony was held on May 26, 2025. Ron Annino, who is one of the principals at the Haddam Veterans Museum, gave the major address at the Memorial Day service in Higganum.
He spoke of the extreme sacrifice of the town of Bedford, Virginia. This town holds a profound place in history due to the Bedford Boys, a group of soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice during the D-Day invasion of World War II. Bedford suffered the highest per capita loss of any U.S. community on June 6, 1944, when nineteen young men from this small town lost their lives in the assault on Omaha Beach in a matter of minutes. Ron Annino’s speech appears below, in its entirety.
“Good morning, everyone. Memorial Day: What does it mean and why do we celebrate it? I believe it is the most important day of the year. It is the day we honor those who not only sacrifice their lives for this country, but also for other nations across the world.
I would like speak about the sacrifice the small town of Bedford, Virginia made during World War II. A group of young boys and men joined the Army National Guard during the Depression to earn a dollar a day for each drill. At the time of their enlistment, World War II had not started, so they probably never considered that they would be called to defend their country. Shortly after the United States entered the war, their unit was activated. They were deployed to England where they trained for two years to prepare for D-Day. I will now quote from the book, “The Bedford Boys.”
‘On June 6th 1944, landing craft dropped the boys from Bedford, Virginia – population 3,000 – in the shallow waters off Normandy’s Omaha Beach, as part of the first wave of American soldiers to hit the beaches on D-Day. Within minutes, 19 were dead. No other town in America suffered a greater one-day loss. Later in the campaign, three more sons of Bedford died of gunshot wounds.’
Imagine that kind of loss. Nineteen dead in a matter of minutes to one small town. Not in months or days or even hours. Minutes.
Another excerpt from The Bedford Boys:
‘Elizabeth Teass switched on the teletype machine for receiving telegrams… soon words emerged on a strip of paper chattering out of the printer. Teass’s heart sank as she read the first line of copy: ‘The Secretary of War desires me to express his deep regret.’ Teass had seen these words before… she waited for the message to end, expecting the machine to fall silent. But it did not. Line after line clicked out of the printer. Within a few minutes, as Teass watched in a trance-like state, it was clear that something terrible had happened to Company A. “I just sat and watched them and wondered how many more it was going to be,” she said.”
Nineteen telegrams were delivered to the families for the sons of Bedford. Of the nineteen lost, eleven never returned home. They rest in peace at the Colleville-sur-Mer American Cemetery in France.
As I wrote this, I thought of these young lives lost. Many were so young they never experienced life. Some never completed school, never drove a car, never had a girlfriend and some never left their town before being in the service. Some would never meet or see their children.
A catastrophic loss for one small town. Dealing with this tragedy was undoubtedly difficult for all of Bedford’s citizens. Much like Higganum and Haddam during that era, everybody knew each other. They surely supported each other and relied on their faith. I encourage you to read “The Bedford Boys” to learn the true meaning of sacrifice, not only the boys’ sacrifices, but also the people they left behind.
This day is to acknowledge the loss of the fallen, but we should not forget the families and friends of the men and women – for they carry and pass the memories of the dead through future generations.
As you stand here today looking at the 52 crosses, you should be aware that you may be standing next to a relative of one of these men. I know some of them are here with us today.
In closing I ask the Lord to let those who gave their lives rest in peace, to help those who survived bear the scars of battle whether physical or mental, to help those mothers, fathers, siblings and friends to endure the pain of their loss.
I ask you here today to remember the men and women who gave their lives not only today, but for all the days. Instill in your children the magnitude of Memorial Day. Someone once said, “without remembering there is no sacrifice. The worst thing is not dying, but being forgotten.” On behalf of my fellow veterans and the people of America, thank you for your loved ones’ service and sacrifice for their country. God bless them all. Thank you.
Photos by Olivia Drake, Haddam Volunteer Fire Company Public Information Officer.
