Jack Powers and his Harmony archtop were inseparable. Born and raised in Bedford, Virginia, 34 miles west of Lynchburg and shadowed by the Blue Ridge Mountains to the north, the muscular, six-foot-tall man loved to dance to the sounds of Tommy Dorsey. But what thrilled him most was playing guitar.
Younger sister Eloise told writer Alex Kershaw that Jack “was always practicing,” and would gather with “neighborhood children and they made wax recordings.”
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, 21-year-old Jack, his brother, Henry, and 36 other young men from Bedford were already serving in a Virginia National Guard unit that became part of the 116th Infantry then formed into the 29th “Blue and Gray” Infantry Division, which would be immortalized in The Longest Day, starring Robert Mitchum. The story of those 38 men is told in Kershaw’s 2004 best-seller The Bedford Boys: One American Town’s Ultimate D-day Sacrifice.
To prepare for combat, they trained at Fort Meade before being deployed to England in late September, 1942. They sailed from New Jersey aboard the Queen Mary for nearly two weeks before arriving in England. On the journey with Powers was his prized Harmony.
Prior to being shipped out, none of the Bedford Boys had been outside of the United States. Seeing the United Kingdom for the first time, Powers likely marveled at the English countryside, which slightly resembled the Shenandoah Valley near his home, with quaint farms and lush green landscape. Assigned to Tidworth Barracks southwest of London, the unit was stationed at Ivybridge in Devon, a village that today still evokes the memory of the 116th Infantry.
After several months of training, the 29th (along with the 1st Division) was assigned to spearhead the D-Day attack on Omaha Beach, one of five Allied landing spots along the heavily fortified Normandy coastline in France. Facing the 43,000 American troops were machine-gun nests, landmines, log ramps, “Czech hedgehog” obstacles, and 12,000 German soldiers.
Poor weather postponed the Allied assault by one day, and on June 4, Company A boarded the British naval transport SS Empire Javelin and sailed to a rendezvous point in the English Channel. At 4 a.m. they climbed aboard the British Landing Craft Assault (LCA) boats, and at 6:36 a.m., the LCA ramps were lowered about 30 yards from shore so the men from Company A could step into the cold water. Normandy had already been pummeled by Allied bombers and was teeming with American and British paratroopers who dropped in a few hours before, but Company A was nonetheless hit by heavy fire from German machine guns, artillery, and small arms. Within a few hours, 19 of the 38 men from Bedford were struck down, including Jack Powers.
A War Department telegram sent to the Western Union teletype at Green’s Drug Store broke the news to Mr. and Mrs. H. Buford Powers, saying their son was missing in action. Two months later, they were notified that Jack had died in France on June 6. The family chose to have his remains stay near where he fell; he’s buried in Plot H, Row 2, Grave 18, at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville sur-Mer.
After the Germans surrendered on May 7, 1945, Jack’s personal belongings arrived home. This included the Harmony, which remained in the Powers family, played only a time or two in the decades since.
Before visiting Normandy for the 75th anniversary of D-Day in 2019, Oklahoma City residents Ken and Linda Parker had learned all about the small Virginia community and its heroes. Wanting to pay tribute, they decided to collect mementoes of the Bedford Boys. Not knowing how to reach the families, they sent a letter to 53 pastors nationwide, asking for help. The response was overwhelming. Relatives lept forward to loan ephemera, photographs, and other gems to honor loved ones who had served in Company A. The Parkers actually moved to Bedford, renting space at the former Green Drug Store on N. Bridge Street to open the Bedford Tribute Center.
Jack’s niece, Connie Powers, knew that her uncle’s guitar deserved a place there, and visitors can now see the Harmony in a case dedicated to Jack. Along with it are several photographs including the only known image of him playing his guitar in England, sitting next to another guitar-playing soldier.
Bedford also boasts the National D-Day Memorial, which uses sculptures, a reflective pool, and exhibits to pay tribute to the Bedford Boys and all the Allies who fought that day.
“It’s easy to forget that soldiers killed on D-Day – or any battle – were flesh-and-blood young men with hobbies and talents and dreams of the future,” said John Long, the Memorial’s Education Director. “Jack Powers’ love of music reminds us of his humanity. He wanted to come home, sit on his porch, and play tunes for his kids. But he never got the chance. He and his buddies knew there were greater things at stake, things worth dying for.”
The memorial’s focal point is a wall containing the names of more than 4,400 Americans and Allies who lost their lives on D-Day. Jack G. Powers’ name is inscribed on Plaque W-75.
This article originally appeared in VG’s December 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.