05 Feb Slaughter Memoir Republished for 100th Birthday
To mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of our founder, the late John Robert “Bob” Slaughter, the National D-Day Memorial announces the republication of Slaughter’s moving personal memoir, Omaha Beach and Beyond: The Long March of Sgt. Bob Slaughter. The limited number “Centennial Edition” includes a new foreword by April Cheek-Messier, President & CEO of the National D-Day Memorial Foundation, and is currently available exclusively through the National D-Day Memorial gift shop and online store.
Born February 3, 1925, in Bristol, Tennessee, Slaughter moved with his family to Roanoke, Virginia in the mid-1930s. He enlisted in the Virginia National Guard at age fifteen, was assigned to Company D, 116th Regiment, and trained as a machine gun operator. With the 116th chosen to be among the first to land on D-Day, Slaughter, by then a nineteen-year-old sergeant, found himself in command of a machine gun squad on June 6, 1944. Decades after the war in his retirement, Slaughter spearheaded the effort that culminated with the dedication of the National D-Day Memorial on June 6, 2001.
First published in 2007, Omaha Beach and Beyond received international attention for the compelling stories of combat and memorialization Slaughter told. The book went out of print in the time following Slaughter’s death on May 29, 2012. The National D-Day Memorial Foundation partnered last year with the Slaughter family on the republication. For the family, the memoir’s availability represents the securement of their patriarch’s legacy and the memories of all who served.
“Omaha Beach and Beyond: The Long March of Sgt. Bob Slaughter and the National D-Day Memorial were Dad’s way of educating the public of how vital D-Day was in winning World War II,” said Bob Slaughter Jr., son of Bob Slaughter. “They were our way of learning about Dad’s experiences in the war since most soldiers came home and never discussed it.”
“We could not be prouder to tell Bob’s story to a whole new generation for many more years to come and we are grateful to his family for allowing us to share this remarkable memoir,” said April Cheek-Messier, National D-Day Memorial Foundation president. “Though, if he were here today, Bob would humbly tell you that he is not the hero of his own story—the heroes remained in the cemeteries of Europe. Bob has long joined his comrades in arms. Now it is up to each of us to know their story, keep it alive, and tell it for them.”
While Cheek-Messier provided a new foreword for the book’s republication, the original introduction by Alex Kershaw, best-selling author of The Bedford Boys was retained. Slaughter’s memoir can be purchased online at store.dday.org with proceeds supporting the National D-Day Memorial. The Foundation recently updated the page dedicated to Slaughter on its website. Visitors can view a video of his oral history interview courtesy of the Virginia War Memorial and a virtual exhibit on Slaughter’s Order of the Day and the men who signed it in the hours before landing on D-Day. Learn more about Slaughter’s life and legacy at dday.org.