By Jay Conley

Archives Reprint

    BEDFORD - French filmmaker Eric Ellena wants to showcase for the French people what folks here have known for years - D-Day veteran Bob Slaughter's unflinching effort to pay homage to his fallen comrades through the National D-Day Memorial.

    "I wanted a veteran that is still fighting for the cause, to keep the memory alive," Ellena said.

    Ellena and a small camera and sound crew have been filming Slaughter for the past week in and around Roanoke and Bedford. Roy Stevens, a Bedford D-Day veteran, is also in the film.

    As the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion approaches, Ellena said he's making the film to preserve the stories of American soldiers for younger generations.

    "I thought, there needs to be something about the American perspective," he said.

    Because most D-Day veterans are 80 or older, it's likely that this year's D-Day anniversary may be the last time the veterans will gather in Normandy for such a reunion, Ellena said. For that reason, the French government is pulling out all the stops to create a big celebration.

    "It seems like it's very strong this year because of these veterans getting older," he said.

    Ellena's company, Yade French Connection, plans to fly Slaughter to France for a news conference when the film is shown on French television June 4, two days before the 60th anniversary.

    Because he's concerned that younger generations might not know as much as they should about the sacrifice made by veterans such as Slaughter, part of Ellena's film includes a conversation among Slaughter, Stevens and four teens from Liberty High School. At 17 and 18 years old, the students are the same age that Slaughter was when he trained for the invasion.

    At Stevens' Bedford County home Thursday afternoon, the camera rolled as Slaughter, of Roanoke, related what it was like to land on Omaha Beach under German gunfire.

    "I wasn't nervous because I thought we'd get on the beach OK and get up on the hill," he said. "As we came off the boats, they just opened up on us."

    The firsthand accounts of battle are the kind of insight into history that Ellena wants more people to know about.

    "He's giving them some very human aspects," Ellena said of Slaughter's conversation with the students. "That going off to war can have a smell, a feel, a touch."

    Slaughter's unit lost 20 Roanoke men in the early-morning invasion. From Bedford, 19 soldiers died, including Stevens' twin brother, Ray. Stevens almost drowned when his landing craft sank in the English Channel.

    "I just hope that you will never have to see anything like that," Stevens told the boys.

    Both former soldiers said they survived the war so they could tell younger generations what war is like.

    "It seems like I had a mission to build the D-Day memorial," said Slaughter, who no longer is officially connected with the memorial's nonprofit foundation. He continues to raise money for the memorial and still speaks to school students and church groups.

    "I think there was a reason we came back," said Stevens, "to explain to young people what they might have to go through before they grow up."

    Gray Cochran, 17, a Liberty High senior who wants to join the Army after he goes to college, said the vivid and personal accounts of combat haven't deterred him from his interest in a military career. He understands the risk that he might have to go into combat.

    "You know, if I have to, I have to," he said.

    The documentary film will air on WSET-TV (Channel 13) sometime around June 6.

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