Press Releases

Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) today released the following statement on the 70^th anniversary of D-Day: 

“70 years ago today, approximately 160,000 brave Allied troops and members of the American military landed on the beaches of Normandy in the D-Day offensive, including the Bedford Boys and Mr. Bob Slaughter, who was born in Bristol and raised in Roanoke.”

“At the age of 15, Mr. Slaughter enlisted in a National Guard unit in Roanoke.  At the age of 19, he charged Omaha Beach as a soldier in Company D of the 116^th Regiment of the 29^th Infantry Division.  This is the same beach the Bedford Boys had landed on roughly an hour and a half earlier. Many of the Bedford Boys and men from his unit fell to enemy fire, but Mr. Slaughter and others managed to secure a defensive position and then helped to overtake the Germans.”

“Mr. Slaughter, the Bedford Boys, and the other warriors in Normandy were willing to sacrifice it all in order to make the world a better place, and many did pay the ultimate price.  But as Salem Museum director John Long wrote for the Roanoke Times – for which Mr. Slaughter worked after returning home in 1945 – ‘…a few wet and frightened 19-year-olds saved the world.’*”

“We honor those who gave their lives in Normandy, and also pay tribute to those who lived to fight another day.  May these soldiers and their heroism, fearlessness, and sacrifice always hold a special place in our history and in our hearts.”

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* http://www.roanoke.com/opinion/columns_and_blogs/columns/john_long/long-what-if-on-june/article_dfecfc32-ec23-11e3-90e1-0017a43b2370.html

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