National D-Day Memorial hosts one-day mini camp

BEDFORD, Va. (WDBJ) - The next generation spent some time learning about the past at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford.

Campers got the chance to travel back in time to explore significant events. With each activity, the campers engaged in fun projects centered around events from June 1944.

Education and Public Outreach Coordinator Mitchell Gehman taught the kids fun, important facts about history.

“It gives them people to look up to,” said Gehman. “The people that they learn about are just average people. I think the myth is that these were sort of superhuman people.”

The kids first enjoyed looking around the memorial at new things that caught their eyes.

“A sword with fire on it,” exclaimed camper Gabe Voss. “There was like a rainbow on top, and the grass was colored the same way as the sword. The flowers looked like the rainbow.”

With each activity, the campers engaged with fun projects catered to the time period.

“Baseball was the thing in the 1940s and it was something that wasn’t just played on the home front; it was played by soldiers in the war,” added Gehman. “Soldiers made their own teams, they competed- they also made their own softball teams. We have a softball ball and glove in our education building.”

After some fun in the sun, they made their own WW2 aircraft out of paper.

“It’s just fun, coming here, learning about things that really happened in different ways in games or different activities. I think it’s a really great way for kids to spend their summers,” stated Gehman.

The campers had a blast learning about the past and want other kids to enjoy the fun too. The next minicamp is Tuesday, August 1st from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information on how to sign up, click here.

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