Boys of Bedford

They tossed around the diamond and sledded in the snow/ These youngsters of Virginia- how like trees they did grow/ They went to Boy Scout camp in Shenandoah gathered as a multitude with lads from across the Commonwealth 'round their age/ The Shenandoah River was their test that day/ Fighting the currents as they later fought that bloody tide/ They had their exciting boyhood river ride/ But they could not in childhood stay/ Remaining in carefree play/ They had to meet their fateful day/ For family, comrade, and country/ Just as a couple generations before/ Their kin met wearing gray/ This was their star turn, their show, their leading role upon the stage/ Besting Rommel's guns and Hitler's rage/ To ne'er return to loved one's hearth and home/ But to have their courage forever etched on history's page.