By Clay Beason
Plot F Row 23 Grave 19, Colleville-sur-Mer (by the sea), France.
Emotions can creep up and overcome you when you least expect them. That happened to me at the Normandy American Cemetery on May 21, 2024. I had planned this small-group France trip for over a year. It would be the third year in a row to do a similar itinerary. I was excited to have someone I worked with 25 years ago and his wife on this trip with me, along with another couple that had traveled with me before to Greece & Italy, and four individuals in their 80s. I did not know these last four, but I knew that two of them had served in the military - one in the Navy and one in the Army. When we were granted a special wreath-laying ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery, Mr. Robert “Herky” Hardison (retired Navy) and Mr. John Myhr (retired Army) were the obvious choices to participate in the ceremony.
While doing research before this trip, I went to the courthouse in downtown Searcy to look at the memorial to those from White County who had served and paid the ultimate sacrifice with their lives in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. Since we would be focusing mostly on World War II during our time in France, I took pictures of those names. Every name has a story. I tried to find out as much as I could on several of the individuals. I found out that some are laid to rest in Searcy, some in Bald Knob, in Pangburn, and other places in and around White County. But I also found that several are laid to rest in Europe. And at least one is resting in the Normandy American Cemetery in France.
Plot F Row 23 Grave 19, Colleville-sur-Mer (by the sea), France. This is the final resting place for Private Troylee M Bedwell. Private Bedwell is from White County, Arkansas. He was a member of the 300th Engineer Combat Battalion in the U.S. Army. He was killed in action on June 21, 1944. He received the Purple Heart, a distinguished military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving in the U.S. armed forces. This is what I could find on Private Bedwell. But I know he has more to his story, and I am confident he helped the Allies ultimately be successful in this horrible war. He died at a younger age than my daughter and her fiance. Perspective.
Herky is 86 years old and played football at the Naval Academy in the 1950s. Mr. Myhr is 80 years old, was in the Army, and was involved in the Vietnam conflict. I’m thankful to count them as friends after this trip. And I’m so thankful for their service to our country. Due to preparations for the 80th-anniversary event at the Normandy Cemetery on June 6, the wreath-laying ceremony was slightly adjusted during our visit. We were able to lay the wreath we had purchased (with a banner reading “Love From NC, TN, AR” - where our tour members are from) at a wall honoring over 1500 individuals whose remains have not yet been found or identified (“The Wall of the Missing”). We chose to honor another individual from the 300th Engineer Combat Battalion, Technician Fifth Grade Cecil Hurst, also from Arkansas. Maybe these two young men knew each other. Just before Mr. Hardison and Mr. Myhr laid the wreath on the Wall of the Missing, the cemetery played the Star-Spangled Banner for us. Just after the wreath found its resting spot, Taps was played. As I looked at Mr. Hardison and Mr. Myhr (and as I thought about Private Bedwell and Mr. Hurst), I wondered what was going through their minds. How many times had they heard this? How many friends had they lost in war? After the last trumpet note faded out, there was a moment of silence. Except for the birds chirping, you could have heard a pin drop. There was not a dry eye in our group.
After this, we watched as Mr. Hardison and Mr. Myhr were escorted by a representative from the cemetery to the resting spot for Private Bedwell. They rubbed sand from Omaha Beach (which lies just below the cemetery) on the white cross of Mr. Bedwell. The crosses are white with white lettering etched in them. When sand is rubbed on them (and then cleaned off), the sand remains in the etchings and the now dark letters really stand out. They also placed an American flag and a French flag at the grave. Later, we were given these two flags. I brought them home to Arkansas in hopes of giving them to a member of the Bedwell family. I will never forget this experience.
Thank you, Private Bedwell. Thank you, Mr. Hurst. Thank you, Mr. Hardison. Thank you, Mr. Myhr. I am proud to be an American!
I’ll end with a short quote from General John J. Pershing that is on Private Bedwell’s memorial certificate:
“Time will not dim the glory of their deeds.”
If anyone has any knowledge of the Bedwell family, please get in contact with me. I would love to give them these flags that flew over the grave in Normandy.
Next small-group tour of Normandy: May 20-29, 2025. If interested, visit www.TCBtours.com
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