The longest day, D-Day, June 6, 1944.
A young "Pete" Myers hit Omaha Beach that day on the run, but an enemy bullet would find him there.
German guns were set in a deadly cross-fire pattern, unleashing a withering hail of bullets as he and his Company F buddies scrambled into the killing zone known as Omaha Beach.
Men were dying in the water and on the beach, cut down before they could fight.
While Bedford took the largest per capita loss that day, Company F losses were high.
But for Company F survivors, Bedford is the place the D-Day memorial should be, and those survivors attending its dedication Wednesday were impressed.
"Those old veterans were calm and humble and listened. There was very little comment," observed Bill Akers, a veteran himself, but not of F Company.
For Akers the memorial dedication was a little emotional, particularly the letters and stories recalling personal triumphs and tragedies. "So many different things that happened to people," he added.
With a laugh, Pete Myers described D-Day as the longest day, and the Wednesday memorial dedication as the second longest day.
"But it was well worth it," he added.
Myers and a handful of Company F survivors, as well as other WWII veterans, left South Boston at 6:15 a.m. to attend the Bedford event. They would not get back home until after 6 p.m.
"I think about the boys, the good friends that we lost," Myers said yesterday. "How they suffered. In Company F we knew everybody, and that makes a difference."
One Wednesday highlight was Myers seeing his former Company F captain, Bill Callahan of Florida, at the dedication. "He came to us in England in 1943," Myers added.
"Another boy, Robertson, who came to us in January of 1944 from Jacksonsville, Florida, was there, too. He was in front of me (at the dedication)."
Allen Moorefield was a cook with F Company in 1944. He waded ashore at Omaha Beach a little later on D-Day, about 9 a.m., and he remembers the beach as full, full of the dead and wounded and full of equipment.
Bill Akers' war would take him across France, into Holland and into Germany itself before he "got hit on November 27," sustaining serious wounds he will carry the rest of his life.
Cecil Anderson went with his old Company F buddies to the Bedford dedication, but he was not with them on D-Day.
Anderson was with Company F until March of 1942, but when the Army decided to form an airborne unit, he became a charter member of the 82nd Airborne.
The Halifax man would jump into Sicily, and later jump behind German lines in Salerno, Italy.
He was also part of the Anzio invasion.
"We lost right many at every jump," recalled the 82nd Airborne charter member. "It was not pleasant, anti-aircraft, tracer bullets. We had a lot of casulties."
Anderson was in Naples when D-Day got underway in June of 1944.
Most of the local WWII veterans attending the memorial dedication Wednesday would like to go back to Bedford "when they're not so many people."
Hot and crowded, it was hard to move about, to see the monument, or to get water, for some.
But the pluses outweighed the negatives.
"The governor and the president made super speeches," Myers said. "Everyone was pleased with them."
"I thought that it was nicely put together. The people did a magnificent job of organizing it," added Anderson.
"The president made a wonderful speech and got a standing ovation. The Navy chorus and band were there and people from all branches of the service were there. No one was left out," he added.
"It was quite an honor to have the president come," Akers said. "He should come, it being a national monument.
"But the time to see the memorial is now, after the dedication," Akers said. "I've been in crowds but this I couldn't believe. When you talk about a sea of people, that was a sea of people. You could not move, but I am real pleased to have been there..."

Halifax resident Estelle Kirby won her five-month fight yesterday against extradition to Michigan to face a potential murder charge.
Clair County, Michigan, prosecutors faxed a letter yesterday to the Halifax County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office saying in essence that Michigan authorities are not proceeding with further extradition procedures due to lack of evidence.
In response to that letter, Commonwealth's Attorney John Greenbacker entered a motion during yesterday's hearing ordering a prior Governor's Warrant demanding Kirby's extradition be dismissed with prejudice.
Judge William L. Wellons additionally ordered Kirby's immediate release from home electronic monitoring.
"In God's eyes, I was already free - I kept the faith, because I know God answers prayers," Kirby said yesterday.
"The worst part is I was found guilty before I had a chance to prove I was innocent."
Kirby added that she hoped all those who doubted her innocence know "how to eat crow."
"It's been a terrible nightmare for my client," said Kirby's attorney, William Watson.
"The real problem was that if the authorities in Michigan had conducted the investigation we did, we wouldn't be here today."
Efforts to contact John Walke, assistant prosecutor for Clair County, were unsuccessful yesterday.
Watson told Judge Wellons during the hearing that he had hired an investigator to travel to Michigan to interview alleged witnesses to the murder named in the Governor's Warrant.
Those named in the warrant signed affidavits after being located stating they had no first-hand knowledge of the stabbing death of farmer Donald Simons on October 7, 1970, according to Watson.
"They [Michigan authorities] had nobody who could identify Kirby's picture, no fingerprints and no eyewitnesses," continued Watson.
Watson had filed a Writ of Habeas Corpus shortly after Kirby's April 4 arrest on the Governor's Warrant, asking Michigan authorities to produce witnesses placing Kirby at the crime scene.
Kirby was originally arrested on a fugitive warrant from Michigan on January 11; the initial extraditoin hearing scheduled for February 28 was adjourned until March 28.
Watson informed General Dsitrict Court Judge Joel Cunningham before the start of that hearing that the Governor's Warrant had just been received, prompting his filing of the Writ of Habeas Corpus.
Watson commented after yesterday's hearing that this was the longest and most unusual extradition process he had ever encountered.
"The best thing we did was interview those [potential] witnesses [in Michigan]. It's good to have a happy result."
As for Kirby, she would offer no comment at this time as to filing any charges of her own, but her relief is evident.
"By the grace of the Lord, I'll make it...it's finally over."

By CURT ANDERSON
AP Tax Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The big tax cut signed by President Bush is only the beginning, Republican congressional leaders say. And they're not alone.
''Every lobbyist on Capitol Hill says that their tax cut is in the next bill,'' said Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, senior Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.
Reductions in capital gains taxes, tax breaks for energy alternatives, production and conservation, small business tax relief linked to a minimum wage increase and tax advantages for health care are on the list.
Big business is pushing for permanent extension of the research and development tax credit, an item added and then dropped from the 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut package Bush signed into law Thursday.
''Manufacturers still view this legislation as just the beginning,'' said Jerry Jasinowski, president of the National Association of Manufacturers.
Bush wants his $500 charitable tax deduction for people who don't itemize, and lawmakers of both parties say the alternative minimum tax must eventually be fixed to avoid striking an estimated 35.5 million taxpayers by the end of the decade.
An even more pressing must-do tax issue is extending a moratorium on Internet taxation, which expires in October.
The Democratic takeover of the Senate could make it much more difficult for Republicans to push their favorite cuts through. Many reductions, however, have bipartisan support and could find their way to Bush's desk as part of other legislation.
For instance, Democrats say a bill to give patients greater rights in dealing with HMOs is one of their top priorities. Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., said that could be a vehicle for proposals to provide tax credits to help people buy health insurance and for deductions for the costs of long-term health care.
''We ought to be able to pass some tax relief with that,'' Nickles said of the patients' rights bill.
Other top candidates for further tax relief this year, according to lawmakers and lobbyists:
-House GOP leaders plan to send the Senate legislation making the $1.35 trillion in tax cuts permanent. Under budget rules, the bill now will expire or ''sunset'' on Dec. 31, 2010, meaning that all the tax cuts would disappear after that. ''I hope and expect it will be made permanent,'' Nickles said.
-Democrats want to increase the $5.15-an-hour minimum wage by at least $1 and have been willing in the past to support tax cuts to offset those costs on small business. These could include 100 percent tax deductibility for the self-employed, increasing the business meals deduction now at 50 percent and increasing writeoffs or depreciation for business investment.
Some lawmakers favor including a cut in capital gains taxes from 20 percent to 15 percent, but that may also move as a freestanding bill in the House. A capital gains cut almost certainly will be voted on later this year.
-Bush has proposed up to $10 billion in tax breaks over 10 years to boost energy supplies, conservation and alternatives. That could become part of an overall energy bill.
Specifics include tax credits for residential solar energy systems and the purchase of fuel cell or gas-electric hybrid vehicles; extension of credits for electricity produced by wind and biomass and creation of a credit for electricity produced from landfill gas, and breaks for marginal oil and gas production.
-Extension of the moratorium on taxes that single out the Internet. There is likely to be a major battle in Congress over whether states should be barred from collecting sales taxes on items purchased over the Internet as lawmakers debate renewing the moratorium.
Whatever bill emerges could become a vehicle for other expiring tax provisions to be renewed, including the R&D credit, credits for companies that hire former welfare recipients and people from certain disadvantaged groups and a provision allowing businesses to defer taxes on certain financing income.
Nathalie Mom, A DCC Student, Dies In Crash

Witnesses say the vehicle involved in yesterday morning's fatal crash north of Halifax on U.S.501 had been swerving in the road for several miles before it finally crossed the centerline and slammed into a logging truck.
Tanya Womack, a 20-year-old Nathalie woman whose two-year old son survived the crash without injury, was pronounced dead at Halifax Regional Hospital at 10:30 a.m.
State Trooper C.M. Fleming said Womack was heading south on U.S. 501 when her 1997 Chevrolet slammed into the side of a road-tractor being operated by Danny Lloyd, 42. of Crystal Hill.
The log-laden truck then went off the side of the road into a ditch and overturned. Lloyd was uninjured according to reports.
Trooper Fleming said that the Womack vehicle, after impact, ran off the opposite side of the road and down a ravine. Womack, who was not wearing safety restraints, was partially ejected.
The child was properly secured in a safety seat.
Trooper Fleming said that Womack was driving her son to a sitter and had planned to continue on to Danville for classes at Danville Community College when the crash occurred.
The deceased grew up in the Java community and was a 1999 graduate of Halifax County High School.
No funeral arrangement were available at press time last night and the accident remains under investigation.

Drug dealer Gemel Rahson Dixon a.k.a. "Yellow," a 24-year-old resident of Westside Trailer Park in South Boston, entered a guilty plea to four counts of distribution of crack cocaine in U. S. District Court in Danville on Thursday.
Dixon's conviction comes after a two-year investigation into the drug culture in the Sinai community, according to Major R. S. B. Pulliam, chief deputy of the Halifax/South Boston Regional Narcotic Enforcement Task Force.
Major Pulliam said the investigation determined Dixon to be a main distributor of crack cocaine in a multi-tiered organization.
The charges stemmed from numerous undercover purchases of crack cocaine, surveillance and information from concerned citizens, Pulliam said.
Dixon is currently being held under no bond and will be sentenced on September 17.
· A 38-year-old Vernon Hill resident, Thomas Lee Crews, a.k.a. "Sharp and Tack," of Robins Trail, was arrested Wednesday by the Task Force and charged with one count of distribution of crack cocaine.
The alleged offense occurred on March 3, 2000.
Crews is currently being held in Halifax Adult Detention Center under a $25,000 secured bond.
An investigation continues with further arrests expected, according to Pulliam.
· William Bradshaw Fincher, 20, of Jeffress Street in South Boston, was arrested Wednesday by the Task Force and charged with one count of distribution of cocaine and one count of causing a minor to assist in the distribution of cocaine.
The alleged offense occurred on November 24, 2000.
Fincher was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond, according to Pulliam.
The investigation is continuing with further arrests anticipated.
· Dewan Y. Chandler, 18, of Mountain Road in Halifax, was arrested by sheriff's deputies on two felony counts of throwing a missile at an occupied vehicle and intentionally damaging a 1998 Honda belonging to Sheila Tuck.
Value of the damage was estimated at over $1,000, according to the warrant.
The alleged offense occurred on May 30.

Halifax County will face one of its bigger challenges of the season when it faces Lee-Davis High School of Richmond in the semifinals of the Group AAA State Baseball Tournament today at 12 noon at Shepperd Stadium in Colonial Heights.
Don't expect to see any changes from what the Comets have been doing, though.
"We're not going to do anything any differently from what we've been doing all year," said second-year Comets coach Kelvin Davis.
"You don't touch your game plan now. It's a do-or-die situation both days. This is the last part of the season. The guys what it takes for us to be winners.
"It all boils down to baseball being a mental game," added Davis.
"We have to come mentally ready to play the game."
This is the first appearance by a Halifax County baseball team in the state tournament in six years.
In its last state tournament appearance, the Comets lost to Green Run in the 1995 state title game.
The Comets will be carrying the flag of the Western District into today's state semifinal game as this season marks the end of the Western District as it has been known for many years.
Davis says it would be a huge honor to win the state title for this, the last year of the Western District.
"The Western District has been going on since I've known it," Davis said.
"I hate to see it go but we must move on. It would be nice to win the state title and represent the Western District as the state champion."
Davis is expected to go today with pretty much the same lineup that has hit the field over the course of the past few weeks.
That would include seniors David Greene at right field, Nick Thompson at center field, Matt Hastings in left field, Michael Priest at third base, Justin Shepperd at first base, and Adam Conner behind the plate.
Also look for seniors R.D. Cole at shortstop, Jonathan Wallace as the designated hitter and Brandon Howerton at second base.
Davis will likely look at either junior Justin King or senior Scott Adams to handle the mound chores today.
Matt Clay, Howerton or, possibly Priest could be seen in a relief role if needed.
In Lee-Davis (21-5), the Central Region champion, the Comets will face a team that has scored 37 runs in its last four ball games.
The Confederates advanced to today's semifinals with a 10-4 win over Western Branch in a suspended game that was started Tuesday night and ended Wednesday night.
Lee-Davis has scored no fewer than eight runs in its last four games and hit double digits twice.
Key players for the Confederates include senior third baseman Matt Edwards who has signed with Notre Dame and senior catcher Joe Coffey who was an 18th round pick of the Florida Marlins in the recent major league baseball draft.
Edwards, Coffey and first baseman Lance Gray are all four-year starters.
The Confederates have seven players on their roster who are pitchers, giving coach Kenny Lewis plenty of mound depth.
Lee-Davis' big distance hurler is right-hander Jason Wawryzniak. Senior Travis Townsend, who worked the hill for the Confederates Wednesday in the suspended game against Western Branch and faced only 10 batters and allowed no hits, gives Lee-Davis a solid one-two pitching punch.
There is one ingredient that could well work in the Comets' favor today.
Today will be the third game this week for Lee-Davis which was victimized by a washout of its Central Region Tournament title game over the weekend.
The Confederates downed Douglas Freeman 8-6 Monday to win the Central Region crown and, thanks to Mother Nature, needed both Tuesday and Wednesday night to complete its state tournament quarterfinal game against Western Branch.
Halifax County has had things a little better, getting its Northwest Region Tournament championship game and state quarterfinal game done in time to give the team a couple of days of rest prior to today's contest.
Another thing in the Comets' favor has been the ability to jump on top early in its recent games and battle back to come from behind as they did when they scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game and force the extra-inning contest against C.D. Hylton.
The Comets have also shown their ability to overcome adversity by bouncing back to win a big ball game after a disappointing loss, as it did Tuesday in the 5-0 win over defending state champion Oakton.
"Every game we lost we practically gave it away by committing errors or giving up walks or whatever it was," Davis said.
"The guys knew we gave the game away at C.D. Hylton and the Hylton knew we had the better team. We didn't make the plays behind our pitchers and that's how Hylton got the win."

Ivory Womack Jr., 35, of 214 Wilmouth Avenue, South Boston, died June 5 in Knoxville, Tenn.
Mr. Womack was born in Washington, D.C. on February 24, 1966, the son of Emma Jennings Womack and Wallace Womack. He was married to Ella Faulkner Womack and was a member of New Vernon Baptist Church.
Survivors include his wife; one son, Craig McCargo of South Boston; four stepchildren, Latisha Faulkner, Crystal Faulkner, James Faulkner and DeShawn Faulkner, all of South Boston; his mother of Md.; three brothers, Vernon Womack of Richmond, Michael Womack and Donnie Womack, both of Landover, Md.; his maternal grandmother, Frances Miller of South Boston; and his mother-in-law, Mae Fannie Faulkner of South Boston.
Funeral services for Mr. Womack will be held June 9 at 4 p.m. at New Vernon Baptist Church with the Rev. Dr. Roger Ford conducting the service. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the home of Latisha Faulkner, 4096 Mountain Road, Halifax.

Annie Lillian Riley Wazeka, 83, of South Boston, died June 6 at Halifax Regional Hospital.
Mrs. Wazeka was born in Orange County, N.C. on April 15, 1918, the daughter of Robert Riley and Annie Meadows Riley and was married to Teddy P. Wazeka. She was a member of Ingram Memorial Pentecostal Holiness Church.
Survivors include her husband; four sons, Robert C. Wazeka, William Cecil Wazeka and Wallace Oliver Wazeka, all of South Boston and Anthony R. Wazeka of Clarksville; one daughter, Barbara W. Newcomb of Scottsburg; 12 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by one son, Teddy George Wazeka.
Graveside services will be held today, June 8 at 2 p.m. at Halifax Memorial Gardens with the Revs. Robert Heim and Mike Wetherington officiating.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider Ingram Memorial Pentecostal Holiness Church.

Rachel Coleman Collins, 92, of 3158 Hundley Road, Halifax, died June 2 at Halifax Regional Hospital.
Mrs. Collins was born in Halifax County on March 7, 1909, the daughter of the late Charlie Coleman and Elizabeth Coleman. She was married to the late Gus David Collins Sr. and was a member of Bethel Grove Baptist Church.
Survivors include one daughter, Samantha Wade of Halifax; one son, Gus D. Collins Jr. of Leesburg; one son-in-law, Samuel W. Wade; one daughter-in-law, Angela Collins; devoted nieces, Hermice Coleman, Julian Coleman, Ruth Norien, Rachel Coleman and Shelby Foster; and one sister-in-law, Elizabeth Coleman of Albany, N.Y.
Funeral services for Mrs. Collins will be held June 9 at 1 p.m. at Bethel Grove Baptist Church with the Rev. Robert H. VanHook officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family is receiving friends at the home.