D-Day Memorial seeks a Savior

BEDFORD, Va. — Just before the 65th anniversary of D-Day, the foundation that runs the National D-Day Memorial is on the brink of financial ruin.

Donations are down in the poor economy. The primary base of support — World War II veterans — is dying off. And the privately funded memorial is struggling to draw visitors because it’s hundreds of miles from a major city.

Facing the prospect of cutting staff and hours, the memorial’s president believes its only hope for long-term survival is to be taken over by the National Park Service or by a college or university.

So far, he hasn’t found any takers.

"All institutions are in various states of privation of one kind or another,” foundation President William McIntosh said. "Everybody’s endowment has been slapped around pretty badly by the economy.”

But by contrast, the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, which opened as a D-Day museum in 2000, is thriving with an $8 million budget supported largely by 120,000 memberships.

The Bedford memorial opened eight years ago at a ceremony attended by President George W. Bush.

It was built in Bedford because the community about 115 miles west of Richmond suffered among the nation’s highest per-capita losses on D-Day.

The outdoor museum tells the story of the invasion of Normandy, France, in sculptures of soldiers and their leaders.

Air jets shoot miniature geysers of water to mimic enemy gunfire as bronze figures of soldiers struggle for shore in a reflecting pool. About 10,000 Allied troops were killed or wounded in the costly landing.


Emotional response
The memorial’s attention to detail evokes an emotional response for those who lived through D-Day, said James A. Huston, a World War II veteran and historian who will receive the French Legion of Honor on Friday in Paris.
"The whole idea is well done,” said Huston, retired dean of nearby Lynchburg College. "It tells the story.”

The privately owned foundation faced financial disaster soon after its 2001 opening, prompting a criminal investigation and Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Federal fraud charges eventually were dropped against the memorial’s former director, Richard B. Burrow, who led aggressive efforts to build the monument in time for many aging World War II veterans to see it.


by the associated press