It’s called an IDPF—Individual Deceased Personnel File. Unlike a service record, which preserves what a member of the American military did while living, the IDPF records what happens once a person has died in uniform. It records basic biographical information and some of the facts...
During World War II, not a single African-American serviceman was awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military honor for valor. Despite the service of some one million African Americans, including many credited with incredible feats of heroism, the highest award was denied to...
The National D-Day Memorial is getting ready for camp—with a few differences. For years we’ve offered summer day camps for kids who are interested in the history of WWII, and we’ve always gotten a great response. This year, of course, Covid-19 has changed everything. Camp...
Chances are you’ve been pondering an important question lately: do you need to wear a mask? When is the appropriate time to wear it? Maybe you’ve worn one to the grocery store. Maybe you’ve decided not to. Maybe your job requires you to cover your...
Chances are, wherever you are as you read this in the spring of 2020, you’re under some degree of restrictions to keep the Covid-19 virus in check. Many people have noted that these are unprecedented times in our history, and they are right. But of...
History buffs and trivia experts will already know that the epic D-Day film “Saving Private Ryan” was loosely based on the story of Fritz Niland, a soldier in the fight for Normandy. Niland had, as loosely scripted in the movie, lost three brothers in a...
It was after one of our Veteran Day commemorations that the man stopped by our offices in Bedford. He had a couple of items he wanted to donate, related to the service of a distant relative. He’d inherited the collection, but thought it belonged at...
A letter recently donated to the National D-Day Memorial gives a fascinating glimpse into the events of D-Day and the weeks following. But the letter leaves quite a few mysteries unresolved—such as who wrote it, and to whom. Dated July 4, 1944 from “Somewhere in...
The collection of the National D-Day Memorial is admittedly very 29th-Division heavy. Located in Bedford, where Company A of the 116th Regiment, 29th Division mustered, and founded by Roanoker Bob Slaughter, another 29er, it stands to reason that a large proportion of our artifacts would...
Seventy-five years ago, American boys were still fighting the hellish Battle of the Bulge. Beginning with surprise attacks along Allied lines which caught our forces entirely off guard, the German forces made rapid advances to knock a “bulge” in the front. The battle was marked...