Veterans in Chapel Hill

The story about the Bedford Boys is a tale of country kids who signed up for the Reserve to receive extra pay for weekend drills.  Pearl Harbor changed all of that and the men of Bedford, Virginia, was ordered to active duty and that led to a D-Day Landing.  In 2011 a Chapel Hill High School 10th-grader, Gracian D’Cruz, asked the Chapel Hill Knights of Columbus and other  local veteran groups  to help sponsor a project to fund the National D-Day Memorial.  It was in financial trouble and local students wanted to help.  Local vets led by American Legionnaires Jerry Pilarski and Lee Heavlin worked to help the students.  Chapel Hill Veterans of Foreign Wars  Post 9100 also  provided funding and support and, in June students and veterans travelled to Bedford for the 67th D-Day Commemoration events. Gene and Louise Drogos also made the trip.