Memorial written by the family of Frank Draper a year after he died on D-Day:
“…We loved you dearly in life and we love you dearly in death; you are in our hearts today, just like you were when you went away. You were a precious jewel taken from our home. But we feel that our loss is Heaven’s gain. Heaven is nearer and dearer to us since you have gone there to stay. You were so sweet, Frank. Kind and good to us all. Now all we have left are sad but sweet memories of you, and your dear picture on the wall. A better son and brother than you can never be found.”
– Published in The Bedford Bulletin Newspaper on June 7, 1945 (Page 3).
The museum’s commitment to engaging and educational experiences ensures that visitors can explore Bedford’s fascinating past, including its Native American heritage.
Whenever our country is drawn into war, Bedford answers the call to arms.
The exhibit on World War I & World War II honors those who have served our country in uniform and gives special tribute to those who paid the ultimate price for our freedoms. On display are the uniforms and tools these brave servicemen and women wore from World War I to today’s battlefield. Visitors can also read about local heroes such as Basil Murray who fought as a pilot in both World War I and World War II. Of course, no military history of Bedford is complete without honoring the Bedford Boys of Company A, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division who fought galanty storming the beaches of Normandy on D-Day and whose sacrifice during this campaign led Bedford to being selected as the home of the National D-Day Memorial.
We have a room dedicated to Company A, included in this exhibit are photos of the 19 men from Company A that lost their lives on June 6, 1944, and the two others from that company that died around that time. There are also several artifacts from those that served in Company A, 116th Infantry, 29th Division from World War I through today, including those that lost their lives on June 6, 1944. One of the items is the baseball from the 1943 European Theater of Operations World Series Championship Baseball team, signed by all the players. It also features pictures of those deployed in 2004 and 2010.
Pictured to the left is the USS Mongolia. In March of 1918, the USS Mongolia was chartered by the U. S. Army to carry supplies and on April 27, 1918, she was taken over by the U.S. Navy where she was subsequently fitted out as a troopship at the New York Navy Yard. Mongolia was then commissioned into the US Navy as USS Mongolia and given the designation of ID-1615.
Having taken on a full load of troops on May 26, 1918 she proceeded to the rendezvous to wait the assembling of the convoy, and later got under way in company with the Henderson, Siboney, American Mallory, Tenedores, Mercury, and Haron , with the Cruiser North Carolina and Von Steuben as escorts. On that trip, she carried 6 Officers and 23 enlisted men of the HQ Co., 159th Infantry Brigade, 80th Division also 109 Officers and 3,408 enlisted men of the 317th Infantry, 80th Division, and 10 Officers with a Detachment of the 313th Field Artillery.
Above are several artifacts including a gas mask from WWI belonging to H. B. Preas. Private 1st Class Howard Beaureguard Preas served with Company K, 317th Infantry, 80th Division. He enlisted on October 11, 1917 and was released from duty on June 12, 1919. He was born on July 27, 1893 and died June 4, 1979.
Their names were PFC Andrew J. Coleman and Sgt. Charles William Fizer. Sgt. Fizer was killed in action during the Battle of Saint-Lô on July 11, 1944 and PFC Coleman died of Brights Disease on July 16, 1944 in a West Virginia Hospital. Fizer was only 22 years old when he was killed in battle and Coleman was only 34 when he died.
In memory of our dear son and brother, Sgt. Charles William Fizer, who was killed in France one year ago, July 11, 1944:
…We gaze upon your vacant chair
With eyes filled with tears,
With visions of you being there,
As in the bygone years,
But no, you’re in a better home
On God’s eternal shore there,
We pray, dear Billy, to meet you
Where parting is no more…
