D-Day memorial planned for Bedford, Virginia

Army, Jun 1997

A small, rural Virginia town forever linked to D-Day, June 6, 1944, will be the site of the National D-Day Memorial. Bedford, Va., had a population of only 3,200 in 1944. It was the home of Company A, 116th Infantry Regiment, part of the Army National Guard's 29th Infantry Division, which, alongside a regiment of the 1st Infantry Division, was the first ashore at Omaha Beach. Of Company A's 170 soldiers in the first assault wave, 91 men died, 64 were wounded, and only 15 were able to continue fighting. Of the 35 soldiers from Bedford, 19 were killed in the invasion's first 15 minutes, and two more died later that day in action with other units.

According to historians, the 21 deaths from Bedford represent the highest per-capita loss from any single town in the nation. This made Bedford a fitting home for the D-Day National Memorial, according to officials from the National D-Day Memorial Foundation.

Congress designated Bedford as the site for the memorial in the 1997 Defense Authorization Bill, and plans are to dedicate the memorial on June 6, 1999, the 55th anniversary of D-Day. The honorary chairman of the National D-Day Memorial Foundation Advisory Board is Stephen Ambrose, a noted D-Day historian, author and biographer.

The foundation needs to raise about $8 million to complete the memorial; they have almost $2 million.

Information is available by calling 1-800-351-DDAY or by writing to the National D-Day Memorial Foundation, 202 East Main St., P.O. Box 77, Bedford, VA 24523.

Aberdeen Court-Martial. Delmar Simpson, a former drill sergeant at the Army Ordnance School, was found guilty of 18 counts of rape and multiple counts of other sexual misconduct offenses during a court-martial at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, a dishonorable discharge and reduction in grade from staff sergeant to private (E-1).

The court-martial board deliberated approximately 31 hours following 10 days of testimony. The findings and sentences are subject to automatic appeal under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Simpson is one of 12 instructors from Aberdeen who have faced various sexual misconduct charges. Seven of those cases are awaiting courts-martial, including two with pending rape charges. Two soldiers who faced charges were dismissed in lieu of courts-martial. One commissioned cadre member was cleared of the most serious sexual misconduct charges he faced, but he pleaded guilty to adultery, unlawful consensual sodomy, conduct unbecoming an officer and violating a general order. He was sentenced to serve four months of a 12-month prison sentence and dismissal from service. One noncommissioned officer was cleared of all sexual misconduct charges, but he was convicted of two minor violations and recommended for removal from a promotion list.

Meanwhile, SMA Gene C. McKinney faces sexual misconduct charges. The Military District of Washington has court-martial authority in the case, and SMA McKinney remains under suspension until it is resolved. Woman Heads Norwich Cadets. Norwich University, Northfield, Vt., has selected Sarah S. Patchem as regimental commander of the Corps of Cadets. She is the first woman to hold that position in the private military university's 178-year history.

Retirees Focus on Health Care. Health care is the major concern of the Army Chief of Staff's Retiree Council, according to an announcement after the group's annual meeting. Army officials said the council urged the Army and Department of Defense to fulfill the promise of lifetime health care made to today's military retirees, and to continue to fulfill that promise in the future.

The 18-member council reported facets of what it called an "unacceptable health care posture, which is having enormous physical, emotional and financial impact on military retirees" in its report to Army Chief of Staff Gen. Dennis J. Reimer. Medical system downsizing was cited as a key element.

The council criticized TRICARE as an option for retirees, saying that few civilian primary care providers participate in the program in areas far from military treatment facilities, and that TRICARE leaves military retirees the only federal retirees turned out of their employer-based medical system at age 65.

Army officials said the council concluded that health care is inaccessible to one-half to two-thirds of all military retiree beneficiaries, and the affordability and quality of care are threatened where it is available. Ship Named for WWII Hero. The Navy will name a large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ship now under construction in honor of Pvt. George Watson, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for action in March 1943 while assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 29th Quartermaster Regiment. When the ship he was aboard was hit by Japanese bombers near Porloch Harbor, New Guinea, Pvt. Watson helped other soldiers in the water reach life rafts, and, exhausted by those efforts, was not able to save himself as the ship sank.

Charges Land Three in Prison. In separate courts-martial hearings at Fort Bliss, Texas, three Army officers pleaded guilty to charges stemming from sexual misconduct with female enlisted soldiers. Second Lt. Trevor Gordon was sentenced to 20 months in prison, Maj. Eddie Brenham was given a six-month sentence, and Capt. Ivan Brown was given a three-month sentence. Each will serve his sentence at the Fort Leavenworth, Kan., military prison.