Our Mission

 BEDFORD INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE, INC.
P.O. Box 951, Bedford, Virginia 24523
(434) 660-8251


Our Mission

On D-Day, 6 June 1944, Allied Forces landed on the beaches of Normandy as part of Operation Overlord, an operation aimed at the heart of Nazi Germany and the destruction of German armed forces. The landings began the liberation of France, followed by the liberation of other countries of Western Europe.

The Bedford Boys in Company A were part of the first wave in the Omaha Beach landings. With the loss of 19 Bedford men in Company A and one man in a sister unit, a total of 20 men, the Bedford, Virginia, community suffered the highest loss per capita on D-Day of any American community. Remembering and honoring these men of the Bedford community – those who died and those who survived - is a key part of today’s mission of the Bedford International Alliance, Inc.

Since 1997, the BIA exists to promote the rich, historical, international relationship and kinship between the Town of Bedford, Bedford County, and the communities of the Omaha Beach area of the Calvados Department in the Normandy region of France and the communities of Bedfordshire and Ivybridge, England. Our mission is to further and deepen our ongoing and productive relationship with our sister communities through the exchange of continued friendship, educational pursuits, cultural understanding, economic interests, and periodic visitations. The Bedford Boys will not be forgotten.