Since the American Revolution, more than 880 veterans from Bedford County have been killed in action during war time. Thanks to the Veterans Grove of Bedford County, these veterans will be honored for centuries through a collection of monuments located in downtown Bedford.
Though they opened their partnership fund at the Community Foundation in 2021, the Bedford County Veterans Grove has been honoring veterans through their projects for thirteen years.
The driving force behind the Grove is a group of local veterans, who call themselves “The League of Pretty Good Guys”, led by Bedford County Visitors Bureau Director Dennis Tice. In 2011, the League found themselves with $50,000 worth of proceeds from showings of a feature documentary on the WWII Veterans of Bedford County. Dennis and the rest of the League decided to put this money back into the community and use it to create a monument to honor these veterans.
This first project inspired a movement within Bedford County to continue raising funds and building monuments that honor other war heroes. After completion of the WWII monument in 2014, the Grove was able to add a monument for Korean War veterans in 2016 and Vietnam War veterans in 2020.
“100 percent of the money for these projects has been raised locally within Bedford County,” said Dennis Tice.
The WWII and Vietnam War monuments include bronze statues—created by renowned sculptor and Bedford County native Wayne Hyde—each containing more than100 thumbprints of local WWII and Vietnam veterans. The Korean War monument is the tallest monument in the grove standing at 11.5 feet tall.
“Surprisingly, the Grove has become quite an attraction for Bedford County,” said Dennis. “People often comment how rare it is to have monuments of such high quality for such a small community.”
The Grove’s most recent project is the Veterans Walk, which features a timeline of every Bedford County Veteran who was killed in action, starting with the Revolutionary War in 1775 and continuing through present day. Bricks that honor KIA veterans are marked with stars and are added to the walk at no cost to the families.
Currently, the Grove is raising money to complete the bricks for the KIA Civil War veterans, of which there are approximately 600. The walk also includes bricks that honor community members who have generally served that are available for purchase.
Visitors can now walk the Veterans Walk and see the other monuments in downtown Bedford at the corner of Penn and Juliana Street. To learn more about the Bedford County Veterans Grove, visit their website. To donate to the Veterans Grove Fund, click here. To learn more about our other funds that are honoring and supporting veterans in our area, visit the links below.
