Sam Dean | The Roanoke Times

Lucille Hoback Boggess is greeted by Sen. Mark Warner before a screening of "Bedford: The Town They Left Behind" at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. Boggess lost two brothers in the D-Day invasion of the shores of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944.

Bob Slaughter signs a copy of his book for Sen. Mark Warner before the screening Tuesday in Washington.

Lucille Hoback Boggess and her sons, John Boggess (left) and David Boggess, attend a screening of "Bedford: The Town They Left Behind." Hundreds attended the screening at the Capitol Visitor Center on Tuesday night.

WASHINGTON -- Although Lucille Boggess said she felt "unpatriotic," she could not make herself attend Company A's send-off from Bedford to Afghanistan in 2004.

Her reason: She said some of those boys might not come back.

It happened to two of her brothers. Bedford Hoback and Raymond Hoback were among the Bedford Boys from Company A of the Army's 116th Infantry, 29th Division, killed on the shores of Normandy, France, on D-Day.

Some 2,500 Allied soldiers died June 6, 1944, in what has become known as the largest land, air and sea operation in military history. During the D-Day invasion, 19 Bedford-area soldiers died, one of the worst per capita death tolls of any American community during the invasion. That was instrumental in landing the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford -- and making it the subject of a documentary shown Tuesday evening at the U.S. Capitol. The screening of "Bedford: The Town They Left Behind" was hosted by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.

The casualties left a gaping hole in the small town's heart. The documentary tells the stories of the wives, girlfriends, sisters and other family members who remained in Bedford during the war and the lingering effect the soldiers' deaths had on the community.

It chronicles the love letters sent between Ivylynn Hardy Schenk and her husband, John Schenk, a young couple who shared dreams via airmail of starting a family.

In the film, the late Roy Stevens, a Bedford Boy who survived D-Day, tells the story of losing his twin brother, Ray Stevens. The Stevens brothers never had been separated until June 6, Roy Stevens said. Before the launch of the operation, Ray Stevens wanted to shake hands with his brother, in case they did not survive. But Roy Stevens wouldn't do it; he said he would meet his brother on the shore of Omaha Beach and the handshake would take place then. Ray Stevens never made it ashore alive.

Boggess, 79, of Bedford County, is one of several Bedford area residents featured in the film. She was two days shy of turning 15 years old on D-Day. It would take weeks for her family to learn of the men's deaths. A telegram arrived on a Sunday with the news Bedford Hoback had been killed. The next day brought another telegram; Raymond Hoback was missing in action. His body never was found, Boggess said.

She didn't fully understand what was happening in 1944. She said she thought she could cheer up her parents by making ice cream after the first telegram came. Losing the sons was hard on Boggess' parents.

"When your parents are so distraught, I think you are, too," she said.

Her mother did not want to go on picnics or other outings because two of her sons could no longer join the family.

The majority of the 34 Bedford Boys had never seen combat before D-Day.

"My two brothers, like a lot of others, joined the National Guard to help out the family," said Boggess, one of seven children who were raised on a dairy farm.

The men earned a dollar a week for the drills and $15 during two weeks of training in the summer with the Virginia National Guard. It was the popular thing to do among the young men in Bedford on the heels of the Great Depression.

Last week, William McIntosh, president of the memorial's foundation, said the D-Day Memorial needs an infusion of cash or change in ownership to keep its gates open. Warner is working with several other legislators to have the cash-strapped memorial turned over to the National Park Service, a division of the Department of the Interior.

"It is important to have memorials here in Washington, but it is also important to have them in other smaller places where people have given so much," Warner said.

The son and nephew of World War II veterans, Warner said he grew up on war stories. But his first brush with Bedford's story was when he was campaigning for governor before the memorial opened.

"I went home and wrote a personal check," he said. He also urged Tuesday's audience of 450 guests in the congressional auditorium to do the same.

The documentary also was shown in an overflow theater to another 200-plus guests, which indicates that although the generation is fading, interest is not. Ray Nance, the last surviving Bedford Boy who landed on D-Day, died in April. Officials at Bedford's memorial said the youngest D-Day veterans will be 83 years old for Saturday's 65th anniversary of the operation.

Bob Slaughter, 83, of Roanoke is one of the younger veterans. He served with Company D and was one of the driving forces behind the memorial. He joined the Guard at 15 years old, with his parents' permission.

While some veterans would rather not talk about combat experiences, anger led Slaughter to advocate for the memorial. He met a woman through his work with a history museum who had never heard of D-Day.

"That made me mad," he said.

Slaughter said the memorial's current financial situation is sad.

"One thing is for sure," he said. "It's not going away. That statue is going to be there forever. They can't cart it away. Somebody's got to keep it up and take care of it."