My first time hearing about the Bedford Boys was a chance encounter with a book in middle school. I was deeply impacted by their story, but I never would have guessed that it would play such an important role in my life so many years later.​

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In college I studied theatre performance. I co-wrote and acted in an original stage play about a local story, and of course, it was about the Bedford Boys. 

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To research, I read books, listened to interviews, visited memorials and talked to people of the town of Bedford, VA. In the process, I fell in love with the town and the boys from history, but also could still feel the deep void they had left in their wake. As I spoke with family members of the men who died on D-Day, I heard in their voices the still poignant loss. 80 years later, the town still hasn't fully recovered.

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Of course, despite some people's tight reign on their memories, the boys weren’t saints. But it enabled me to empathize with them even more because of that, reminding me that they were real people, not just characters from a book. They were small-town guys, much like my own childhood in rural Indiana. Heck, most of them had never traveled beyond the borders of the county they were born in, and their limited life experience was reflected in the nature of their dreams. Most aspired to marry their high school sweetheart, raise a family and provide for the people they loved.​ Nothing more. None of them aspired to become iconic figures in a global war. 

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In the six years since that original project, the story has changed my life in many ways. I’ve had the deep desire to honor them by bringing their story onscreen to a wider audience. Alongside my dear friend, Joshua Reed, who portrayed my twin brother in the stage production, we've worked tirelessly to make this vision come to life. 

And now, it's finally time to get their story told. 

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