W.E. Steven’s Family Victory Garden

W.E. Steven’s Family Victory Garden. D-Day Memorial. Mr. W.E. Stevens was a man of soil. He and his wife maintained a farm six miles outside the City of Bedford, Virginia. After the United States entered the Second World War, the government soon revived the World War I practice of victory gardening. Farmers were “drafted” to take the lead in ensuring the armed forces had the food they needed to train and fight, but the responsibility for producing an abundant public supply of food by no means belonged to them alone. Citizens of all professions received the call to do their part by starting their own plots wherever they could find the space. Victory Gardens on roof tops, alongside garages, in vacant lots, outside churches, and in public parks were commonplace in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom as well as the United States. , , By 1944, America’s 20 million Victory Gardens would account for 40 percent of the vegetables grown and consumed that year. As a result, staple farm crops such as carrots and potatoes were plentiful. That lowered the government’s procurement costs and ensured an ample supply of nourishing food for the forces overseas. Most Victory Gardens preserved their harvests by home canning, a practice that reduced the domestic demand for metal needed for the battlefield. Both the Department of Agriculture and the agribusiness community promoted Victory Gardens throughout the war years. Those promotion’s notwithstanding, the great success of victory gardening hinged upon and reflects the efforts of a homefront citizenry working to close ranks with those on the frontlines. , , The generosity of Genworth Financial Corporation, Wachovia Bank, Greater Lynchburg Community Trust, and the Estate of Christine Cronk Robertson, has enabled the National D-Day Memorial to introduce a new generation of young gardeners to the practice of victory gardening, a hands-on educational undertaking Mr. and Mrs. Stevens would have endorsed. , , They had fourteen children of their own, three of whom served in World War II. Their twin sons, SSgt. Ray Otey Stevens (left) and SSgt. Roy Oakley Stevens (right) of Company A, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, assaulted Omaha Beach on D-Day; Cpl. Warren Lyle Stevens, their brother, was posted at Camp Polk, Louisiana. This plaque recognizes the homefront contributions of the W.E. Stevens family to the Allied war effort and pays tribute to the military service of their sons. , , In memory of Ray, who was killed on D-Day, and Roy, who after severe wounding at St. Lo, France, lived, volunteered in support of youth programming at the National D-Day Memorial, and farmed in Bedford, Virginia, until his death on 1 January 2007. Given in love by the Stevens family and their many friends. , By resolution of the Board of Directors of the National D-Day Foundation on 26 September 2008. W.E. Stevens family Victory Garden of the National D-Day Memorial is named in recognition of their collective service to community and country.