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| Tech Sergeant Ray Stevens, 116th Infantry Regiment, was one of the first men on Omaha Beach on D-Day. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/70732951 http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/blue-and-gray-at-omaha-beach/ |
Ray Okley Stevens never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on August 12, 1919 in Virginia. His parents William and Martha were also both born in Virginia. His father worked as a farmer. Ray had two older sisters, four older brothers, a twin brother (Roy) and one younger brother. There were five other siblings (including triplets who died soon after birth). The twins joined the Virginia National Guard a week apart in 1938. By 1940 Ray had completed seven years of education and was working on the family farm. He also worked in a grocery store.
He enlisted in the US Army in February 1941 when his Virginia National Guard unit was called up to the regular army. He rose to the rank of tech sergeant in Company A, 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division. Brother Roy was also in Company A. Ray was made the leader of a 60mm mortar squad and was so accurate he trained other mortar men in the company.
The 29th Infantry Division arrived in England at the early date of September 1942. Other units were sent to fight in North Africa, Sicily and Italy, but the 29th Infantry Division stayed in England, training for 21 months and then being selected to be the first to land on Omaha Beach on D-Day at section Dog Green, June 6, 1944. The night before the landing the twins met on the deck of the Empire Javelin. Ray gave Roy a few hundred dollars of gambling winnings, in case he didn't make it.
Company A was the tip of the spear -- its men went in on the very first wave divided among seven landing craft. Ray was in boat 2 and Roy was in boat 5.
Roy's boat sank far out to sea and he never made it Omaha Beach on D-Day. He was fished out of the water and did not get to shore for five more days. Searching for his brother Ray he found his grave and learned Ray had died on June 6, 1944. He never made it off of the beach. A total of 19 out of 34 Bedford Boys died on D-Day and were buried in temporary Normandy graves.
His grave is at Greenwood Cemetery in Bedford, Virginia.
Roy went on to become a founding member of the Board of Directors of The National D-Day Memorial Foundation. He volunteered many days at the memorial to share the history of D-Day with thousands of memorial visitors. He died in 2007.
To learn more about the boys from Bedford, I recommend the excellent book The Bedford Boys by Alex Kershaw.
Last year on this date I profiled Sgt. Hamrick. You can read about George here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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