Bedford in Bedford County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Lend-Lease (Public Law 77-11)

“An Act Further to Promote the Defense of the United States”

— National D-Day Memorial —

Lend-Lease (Public Law 77-11) Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Brandon D Cross, 2024

1. Lend-Lease (Public Law 77-11) Marker

Inscription. Perhaps inspired by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's homey metaphor of a person lending a neighbor a garden hose to extinguish his burning house then getting it back when the fire is out, the initiative that came to be known as Lend Lease was conceived by FDR, Harry Hopkins, and other advisers to allow the United States, still neutral until Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and Hitler's declaration of war on 11 December, to provide a broad range of war materials to the United Kingdom, Soviet Union, France, China, and other embattled nations. Proposed as the heading of this tablet implies, to impede the potential threat totalitarian ambition represented to the United States, the act received congressional approval, and President Roosevelt signed it into law on 11 March 1941. He did so not a moment too soon, for Japan had invaded China in November of 1937 and Europe had been at war with Germany for eighteen months. Any doubts Hitler may have nurtured about America's neutrality before the bill became law vanished altogether with its signing, and merchant vessels such as SS Robin Moor, sunk in open seas

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a few months later by a German U-boat, became fair game.

In a matter of months, the United States would enter the war as an ally of the nations it was aiding through Lend-Lease, and it would continue to aid them until the end of the war. The scope of that undertaking had no precedent, and expressed in terms of 2010 dollars, the total amounted to some $800 billion. The actual expenditure of $50 billion still staggers the imagination today, especially when considered against what was the increasing likelihood that the United States, with its own need for war materials, would soon join the fight.

Lend-Lease made a vital contribution to the ability of its beneficiaries to carry on - indeed, to their continued existence as nations - especially when they were in the fight alone. The program's relevance to D-Day is this: without Lend-Lease, the Allies that landed and fought in Normandy and beyond would not have had the tools they needed to succeed on 6 June 1944. Likewise, the Soviet allies engaging the German army on the Eastern front would not have had the tools they needed to keep the enemy from turning west. By D-Day some Allies

Photographed by Brandon D Cross

2. Lend-Lease (Public Law 77-11) Marker

had become self-sufficient in such things as fighter aircraft, armor, and artillery, but Lend-Lease supplemented their arsenals and provided a wide array of essential logistical supplies, to include thousands of wheeled vehicles.

President Roosevelt established the Office of Lend-Lease Administration in 1941 and appointed Edward R. Stettinius Jr, to head it until he became Undersecretary of State in September 1943 and Secretary of State in December 1944. Leo Crowley, the founding head of the Foreign Economic Administration, absorbed responsibility for Lend-Lease.
In memory of Edward R. Stettinius Jr. (1900-1949). Given by his family.

Erected by National D-Day Memorial.

Topics and series. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • War, World II. In addition, it is included in the U.S. National D-Day Memorial series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1941.

Location. 37° 19.855′ N, 79° 32.149′ W. Memorial is in Bedford, Virginia, in Bedford County. It can be reached from Overlord Circle 0.4 miles west of Burks Hill Road. The Marker is located on the grounds of the National

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D-Day Memorial. Touch for map. Memorial is at or near this postal address: 3 Overlord Circle, Bedford VA 24523, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this memorial is in Southwest Virginia.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Upper South.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Third Infantry Division (British) (here, next to this marker); Six Airborne Division (British) (here, next to this marker); 1st Special Brigade (Commandos) (here, next to this marker); 4th Special Service Brigade (Commandos) (here, next to this marker); Third Canadian Infantry Division (here, next to this marker); General of the Army George C. Marshall (1880-1959) (here, next to this marker); Richard S. Reynolds Sr. Garden (here, next to this marker); 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division (here, next to this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Bedford.

Also see . . .
1. Lend-Lease Act (1941). (Submitted on February 10, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida.)
2. National D-Day Memorial. (Submitted on February 10, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on February 11, 2024. It was originally submitted on February 10, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 203 times since then and 37 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on February 10, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.