
The Bedford Boys
One American Town's Ultimate D-day Sacrifice
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Narrated by:
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William Dufris
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By:
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Alex Kershaw
About this listen
June 6, 1944: Nineteen boys from Bedford, Virginia—population just 3,000 in 1944—died in the first bloody minutes of D-Day
They were part of Company A of the 116th Regiment of the 29th Division, and the first wave of American soldiers to hit the beaches in Normandy. Later in the campaign, three more boys from this small Virginia town died of gunshot wounds. Twenty-two sons of Bedford lost—it is a story one cannot easily forget and one that the families of Bedford will never forget.
The Bedford Boys is the true and intimate story of these men and the friends and families they left behind. Based on extensive interviews with survivors and relatives, as well as diaries and letters, Kershaw's book focuses on several remarkable individuals and families to tell one of the most poignant stories of World War II—the story of one small American town that went to war and died on Omaha Beach.
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Thoughtful and Sobering
- By Anonymous User on 10-07-19
By: Alex Kershaw
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The Liberator
- One World War II Soldier's 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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From July 10, 1943, the date of the Allied landing in Sicily, to May 8, 1945, when victory in Europe was declared - the entire time it took to liberate Europe - no regiment saw more action, and no single platoon, company, or battalion endured worse, than the ones commanded by Felix Sparks, who had entered the war as a greenhorn second lieutenant of the 157th "Eager for Duty" Infantry Regiment of the 45th "Thunderbird" Division. Sparks and his fellow Thunderbirds fought longest and hardest to defeat Hitler.
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Now I Know What a Hero Really Is
- By Steven on 11-27-12
By: Alex Kershaw
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Escape from the Deep
- A True Story of Courage and Survival During World War II
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In the early morning hours of October 24, 1944, the legendary U.S. Navy submarine Tang was hit by one of its own faulty torpedoes. The survivors of the explosion struggled to stay alive one hundred-eighty feet beneath the surface, while the Japanese dropped deadly depth charges. As the air ran out, some of the crew made a daring ascent through the escape hatch. In the end, just nine of the original eighty-man crew survived. But the survivors were beginning a far greater ordeal.
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Dang!! Why didn’t I know about this!?
- By Andy on 06-18-25
By: Alex Kershaw
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Avenue of Spies
- A True Story of Terror, Espionage, and One American Family's Heroic Resistance in Nazi-Occupied Paris
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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The leafy Avenue de Foch, one of the most exclusive residential streets in Nazi-occupied France, was Paris' hotbed of daring spies, murderous secret police, amoral informers, and Vichy collaborators. So when American physician Sumner Jackson, who lived with his wife and young son, Phillip, at Number 11, found himself drawn into the Liberation network of the French resistance, he knew the stakes were impossibly high.
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Gripping, inspirational, and informative!!
- By Constance M. Specht on 09-26-15
By: Alex Kershaw
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Operation Typhoon
- Hitler's March on Moscow, October 1941
- By: David Stahel
- Narrated by: Philip Battley
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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David Stahel's groundbreaking new account of Operation Typhoon captures the perspectives of both the German high command and individual soldiers, revealing that despite success on the battlefield the wider German war effort was in far greater trouble than is often acknowledged.
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Exhausting the Blitzkrieg
- By Rodney W. Schmisseur on 05-19-24
By: David Stahel
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The Envoy
- The Epic Rescue of the Last Jews of Europe in the Desperate Closing Months of World War II
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Tim Campbell
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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December 1944. Soviet and German troops fight from house to house in the shattered, corpse-strewn suburbs of Budapest. Crazed Hungarian fascists join with die-hard Nazis to slaughter Jews day and night, turning the Danube blood-red. In less than six months, thirty-eight-year-old SS Colonel Adolf Eichmann has sent over half a million Hungarians to the gas chambers in Auschwitz. Now all that prevents him from liquidating Europe's last Jewish ghetto is an unarmed Swedish diplomatic envoy named Raoul Wallenberg.
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What a magnificent man Raul Wallenberg was.
- By Alan Ganderson on 06-03-25
By: Alex Kershaw
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Spearhead
- An American Tank Gunner, His Enemy, and a Collision of Lives in World War II
- By: Adam Makos
- Narrated by: Johnathan McClain
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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From the author of the international best seller A Higher Call comes the riveting World War II story of an American tank gunner’s journey into the heart of the Third Reich, where he will meet destiny in an iconic armor duel - and forge an enduring bond with his enemy.
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Excellent
- By Msgr. John R. McGrath on 03-11-19
By: Adam Makos
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The Nuremberg Trial
- By: John Tusa, Ann Tusa
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 25 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Here is a gripping account of the major postwar trial of the Nazi hierarchy in World War II. The Nuremberg Trial brilliantly recreates the trial proceedings and offers a reasoned, often profound examination of the processes that created international law. From the whimpering of Kaltenbrunner and Ribbentrop on the stand to the icy coolness of Goering, each participant is vividly drawn.
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Detailed and rewarding listen for history buffs
- By Ronnie on 08-25-17
By: John Tusa, and others
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Ghost Soldiers
- The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: James Naughton
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Abridged
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At once a gripping depiction of men at war and a compelling story of redemption, Ghost Soldiers joins such landmark works as Flags of Our Fathers and The Greatest Generation Speaks in preserving the legacy of World War II for future generations.
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Ghost soldiers
- By Zach on 09-07-03
By: Hampton Sides
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When the Sea Came Alive
- An Oral History of D-Day
- By: Garrett M. Graff
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Garrett M. Graff, full cast
- Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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A visceral drama, When the Sea Came Alive is the most comprehensive account of D-Day that we have yet to see, and an unforgettable, fitting tribute to the men and women of the Greatest Generation.
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Just a great "oral" history of d day
- By PAUL on 07-25-24
By: Garrett M. Graff
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Codename Nemo
- The Hunt for a Nazi U-Boat and the Elusive Enigma Machine
- By: Charles Lachman
- Narrated by: Qarie Marshall
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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On June 4, 1944, the course of World War II was forever changed. That day, a US Navy task force achieved the impossible—capturing a German U-Boat. Called Operation Nemo, it was the first seizure of an enemy ship in battle since the War of 1812, one of the greatest achievements of the US Navy and a victory that shortened the duration of the war. A deeply researched, fast-paced World War II narrative for the ages, Charles Lachman’s white-knuckled war saga and thrilling cat-and-mouse game is told through the eyes of the men on both sides of Operation Nemo.
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The writing drew me back in time the narration made it feel current
- By CE on 06-17-24
By: Charles Lachman
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With the Old Breed
- At Peleliu and Okinawa
- By: E. B. Sledge
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Joe Mazzello, Tom Hanks (introduction)
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The celebrated 2010 HBO miniseries The Pacific, winner of eight Emmy Awards, was based on two classic books about the War in the Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow and With The Old Breed. Audible Studios, in partnership with Playtone, the production company co-owned by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, and creator of the award-winning HBO series Band of Brothers, John Adams, and The Pacific, as well as the HBO movie Game Change, has created new recordings of these memoirs, narrated by the stars of the miniseries.
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This is the second audio book of Sledge's work
- By Richard on 10-21-13
By: E. B. Sledge
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Ardennes 1944
- The Battle of the Bulge
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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On December 16, 1944, Hitler launched his "last gamble" in the snow-covered forests and gorges of the Ardennes in Belgium, believing he could split the Allies by driving all the way to Antwerp and forcing the Canadians and the British out of the war. Although his generals were doubtful of success, younger officers and NCOs were desperate to believe that their homes and families could be saved from the vengeful Red Army approaching from the east. Many were exultant at the prospect of striking back.
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Beevor excellent as always
- By Reed on 11-30-15
By: Antony Beevor
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The Demon of Unrest
- A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Will Patton, Erik Larson
- Length: 17 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter.
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Vividly Told History of the Start of the Civil War
- By WLC on 05-01-24
By: Erik Larson
Never should we forget d-day. Kershaw brings it to life in a manner which is carefully crafted to help us feel the pain with facts, rather than portraying extreme graphic detail which is imagined.
Kershaw brings understanding to those who suffered from PTSD, those with survivor guilt, and to those grieving families of Bedford.
This book is well worth the read, and suited well for an audio book. The narrator has a pleasant voice which does not detract from the story.
Worth Reading
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A Powerful Story
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