About the Hoback Boys-- Part 7: The Bible

Raymond was never found.    Several of his company mates subsequently reported seeing him lying on the beach near the water's edge, whether wounded or dead they did not know.

What is clear is that he, along with dozens  others like him, was taken by the tide into the sea.

A word now about Providence, which manifested itself in the form of a package that arrived at our house a few days later.  It was a book sent by a soldier from W. Virginia, who had landed a day after Raymond had gone ashore.

"While walking on the beach on D-Day plus one (June 7),  he wrote, "...I came upon this Bible, and as most any person would do, I picked it up from the sands to keep it from being destroyed."  It was the Bible my mother had given to Raymond for Christmas in 1938.  It was her only tangible connection to her missing son.

She treasured it for the rest of her life, as I treasure it today.

This Story Puts It in Perspective.  --GreGen

About the Hoback Boys-- Part 6: Then Came Telegram No. 2

We were over the freezer (ice cream-maker) cranking away when here was another knock-- another telegram.

"The War Department regrets," the too familiar preamble read, "to inform you that your son, Staff Sgt. Raymond Samuel Hoback is missing in action."

Mom and Dad were overcome with grief and I along with them.

To this moment I can remember nothing else that happened that day.

Time simply stopped.

Two brothers Gone.  --GreGen

About the Hoback Boys-- Part 4: "An Unexpected Knock Came Through the Door"

This account by Lucille Hoback Boggess (Bedford and Raymond's sister) certainly brings out the humanity side of the war.

One Sunday in mid-July (July 15, 1944) everyone was getting dressed to go across the road to church.  An unexpected knock came through the door, and my father opened it to the sheriff.  Looking pained and mumbling a few words to Dad, the sheriff  handed him a piece of paper-- a telegram.

"The War department regrets to inform you," it began, "that your son, Pvt. Bedford Turner Hoback has been killed in action."

The news that  everyone in town had been expecting, had been dreading, was finally here.

It was here-- in our house.  Our house.  We were stunned.

Scarcely comprehending the loss but painfully aware of my parents' grief, I watched my mother's tears begin, and my own followed.

--GreGen

About the Hoback Boys-- Part 3: "Our Concern Became Fear, and Fear, Finally Became Nightmare"

In June of 1944, I had finished my freshman year, I was looking forward to spending large chunks of the summer at Bedford County Lake, and I was a long way from the frontlines.

A few days into the month, though, we learned that our boys were on them.  We did not know who was where or how anyone was, but our faith was strong and our hopes remained high.

In the weeks following D-Day, we heard reports of fierce fighting  as the Allies moved deeper into France.  What we did not hear was any news  about the Bedford company, or from Raymond or Bedford (her brothers).

We were concerned, and as the days passed, our concern became  fear, and fear, finally, a nightmare.

--GreGen

About the Hoback Boys-- Part 2: The Bedford Boys

Raymond received a Bible from my mother as a Christmas gift when he was eighteen.  Receiving your own Bible  was to undergo a rite of passage, and we took it seriously.  Raymond certainly did, and he kept his Bible close at hand.  I know he took it with him when the Bedford company mobilized in 1941.

Before the mobilization, the company would go off to this or that army camp to train for a week or two.  When they came back from the end of  maneuvers, everyone would turn out to welcome them home.  One of my strongest memories is the joy in the faces of those boys  as they climbed off the trucks, because they knew their lives could get back to normal.

Once the company mobilized, though, the boys did not come back except as individuals whenever they could get a pass or furlough.  Their joy of coming home was real enough, but the army a greater reality.

After Pearl Harbor, so was the war.

--GreGen

About the Hoback Boys-- Part 1: Why They Joined the National Guard

From the  DDay.org site.  National D-Day Memorial.

Bedford and Raymond Hoback were one of 33 sets of brothers fighting together on the beaches of D-Day, June 6, 1944.  Of those 33 sets, three were sets of brothers from Bedford, Virginia.  (the Stevens twins and Powers boys).    They were part of Company A, 116th Regiment,  29th Infantry Division.

This is the story as told by Mrs. Lucille Boggess, sister of Raymond and Bedford.

My two brothers, Bedford and Raymond,  joined the National Guard, but the attraction was not financial.  The thing that drew them-- drew Bedford anyway-- was the idea of service.  He believed in it.  I should tell you that when Bedford joined the National Guard, he was no boy.

He found military service to be something he wanted to do-- not full time, of course, but once every few days it felt pretty good.  I think he liked the order the military represented, its discipline, teamwork, and fellowship.

Raymond's  motivation may not have been so well informed, but I must tell you that he too-- was a man.  Although four years younger than Bedford, he was not a kid, but he did have a kid brother's admiration  of his older brother, and that is probably why he came to the Guard.  And I think he liked to dress up in his uniform--  he liked to look and feel like a soldier.

--GreGen

The Bedford Boys Who Paid the Ultimate Price at D-Day-- Part 2: Gillaspie, Hoback, Hoback, Lee

Pfc  NICK NAPOLEON GILLASPIE--Born 28 March 1918,  Died:  6 June 1944,  Buried:  Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial

Pvt BEDFORD TURNER HOBACK--  Born: 15 September 1913, Died  6 June 1944,  Buried:  Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial.

SSgt. RAYMOND S. HOBACK--  Bron:  21 January 1920,  Died 6 June 1944,  Buried:  Body never recovered.  He is listed at the Garden of the Missing at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial.

Pvt CLIFTON G. LEE--  Born:  13 August 1917,  Died 6 June 1944,  Buried:  Normandy American Cemetery and memorial.

--GreGen

Pvt. Bedford Hoback, Missing In Action at D-Day

From Find A Grave.

Birth:  15 September 1913, Bedford County, Virginia

Death:  6 June 1944 (aged 30)  Departement  du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France

Burial:  Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial   Colleville-sur-Mer, Departement du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France.

Killed in action June 6, 1944, Normandy, France.  Brother of Raymond Hoback; Regimental Combat Team, 29th Infantry Division; awarded Purple Heart; buried in U.S. Military Cemetery, Normandy, France.

--GreGen

SSgt Raymond Samuel Hoback-- Part 1

From Find a Grave.

Birth:  21 January 1920  Bedford County, Virginia

Death:  6 June 1944 (aged 24)  Colleville-sur--Mer, Department of  du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France.

Burial:  Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial  Same as above.

Plot:  Name listed in the Garden  of the Missing  Army-Air Forces Tablet  22 Line 08.

His body was never recovered.

--GreGen

Privates Bedford and Raymond Hoback of Bedford, Va., Both Killed at D-Day, June 6, 1944

I went to Find a Grave for this.  And, was it sad.   Go to either the listing for the father, John Samuel Hoback (1894-1977) or mother, Macie E. Robertson Hoback (1888-1972) and under children you will see the names:

Bedford Turner Hoback   1913-1944
Mabel Frances Hoback Phelps   1915-2111
Elsie Leachman Hoback Davis    1918-2012
Raymond S. Hoback    1920-1944
Giles Cecil Hoback 1931-2005

The whole family was long-lived except for Raymond and Bedford.

For some reason they don't have Lucille Hoback Boggess, their sister listed.  She was the one who was interviewed in the previous article on Bedford, Virginia.

All are buried in Virginia, except Bedford and Raymond.  Bedford in buried at Normandy American Cemetery and memorial at Colleville-sur-Mer, France.  Raymond's body was never recovered and thought to have been swept out to sea.  He is listed at the Garden of the Missing at the same cemetery as his brother.

The pictures of the two men is at right of this entry.

--GreGen

Bedford, Va. Remembers D-Day-- Part 3: Both of Lucille's Brothers Among the Dead

Lucille Hoback Boggess was 15 that July, when her parents received two telegrams, a day apart, telling them that their sons, Bedford and Raymond Hoback were dead.  She recalls watching her father walk, heartbroken, to a barn where he could hide his tears and grieve alone.  Every evening that summer felt like a wake.

Boggess was very close to her mother, "Anything that hurt her, hurt me.  I felt helpless.  Bedford Hoback's body was identified.  He is one of more than 9,000 interred at the American cemetery at Coleville-sur-Mer in France.  

Raymond's corpse was never found.  He may have washed out to sea.  His name is inscribed with about 1,500 others on a wall of the missing, near where her brother lies.

--GreGen

Bedford, Virginia Remembers D-Day-- Part 2: 19 of 34 Bedford Boys Killed in Opening Minutes

Of the 34 soldiers from Bedford in Company A, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, 19 were killed.  Sadly, that included both of Lucille Hoback Boggess' brothers.  The carnage that befell Company A happened in a matter of minutes:  German machine gunners. opened fire on them as the soldiers clambered ashore.

For the little community to suffer so enormously was an anomaly created by the times.  Many of Bedford's young men had joined a Virginia National Guard unit before the war, as the Great Depression lingered.  The unit became a part of the U.S. Army in early 1941.  Through grim luck, the small unit the Bedford boys were part of landed in the teeth of the most destructive German fire.

--GreGen

Bedford, Virginia, Remembers D-Day-- Part 1

From the June 2019 AARP Bulletin "Bedford Remembers" by Alex Kershaw.

Lucille Hoback Boggess of Bedford, Virginia, celebrates her 90th birthday on June 8, just 48 hours after the anniversary of D-Day.  The events of that day, 75 years ago would forever change her life and that of her family and her hometown.

Boggess remembers waving goodbye to her two brothers from the Bedford train station under a cold blue February sky in 1941 after their National Guard unit was called to active duty.  None of those soldiers, including several sets of brothers, could foresee the role they would play in the greatest invasion of that war (or any war for that matter).

On June 4, 1944, the southwestern Virginia town of Bedford, population 3,200, suffered the highest per capita loss of any American community.  When the telegrams began to arrive, the tight-knit town was devastated.

--GreGen

Bedford Boy's D-Day Loss Still Casts Shadow on Virginia Town-- Part 2: "Where Are My Boys?"

Several years later, her mother had a stroke and would say, "Where are my boys?  Lucille Bogess', their sister, told the reporter, "I want to cry telling you that."

The country's National D-Day Memorial is in Bedford, Virginia, because of the loss.

One of the 35 Bedford Boys is Allen Huddleston, but he wasn't at D-Day because of an ankle injury during training.  However, he did see action in Normandy later.

Sergeant Roy Steven and his twin brother Ray were in different boats at D-Day.  The boats landed, but only Roy survived.

This year the town dedicated a new sculpture to their "Bedford Boys."

--GreGen

Bedford Boys' Loss Still Costs Long Shadow in Virginia Town-- Part 1: They Grew Up Together and Went to War Together

From June 6, 1944, CBS News by Jan Craeford.

"They grew up together, and as America went to war, so did they.  Thirty-five men from the small southern town of Bedford, Virginia, were in the same company, including two of Lucille Boggess' brothers."

On June 6, 1944, they and 150,000 other young men stormed ashore on D-Day.  That day, 4,800 Allied soldiers died and 19 of them were from Bedford, Virginia.

"We were getting ready to go to church on Sunday, and the sheriff brought the first telegram.  The second telegram was delivered by a cab driver.

She was 14 when her brothers Bedford and Raymond Hoback were killed on DoDay.  Her parents never got over it.

--GreGen