Private Saffelle on D-Day

Private Stewart Delaney Saffelle was killed within minutes of landing with his unit on Omaha Beach at Normandy in Northern France in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944. He was among the first to die as Allied Forces stormed the European continent as part of an assault that would lead to the end of German occupation and World War II. It was just a day short of the one-year anniversary of his graduation from Mount Vernon High School in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Private Saffelle was part of the 116th Infantry Regiment, Twenty-Ninth Division, which traced its roots to the Revolutionary War and Confederacy's Stonewall Brigade in the Civil War. Included was a large number of soldiers from Bedford, Virginia, 19 of which were killed that day at Normandy and became known as the "Bedford Boys". All are remembered at the National D-DAY Memorial in Bedford.  

Saffelle lived on Duke Street with an Alexandria address, adjacent to Franconia via Quaker Lane across a ford of Cameron Run and the tracks of two railroads. Except for times of high water, neighbors traveled back and forth to shop and visit. Alexandria annexed the area after the war and the Beltway and Metro were added, blocking direct access. Students from the Duke Street area attended Mount Vernon after it opened in 1941. Yearbooks picture Saffelle as a Mount Vernon student in 1942 and 1943.

He entered the army in July of 1942 and received his training at Camp Knox on the South Carolina-Georgia Border. He was attached to the 116th Regiment infantry unit and shipped overseas in January 1943. The unit spent the next six months preparing for the invasion. Press reports after his death identified Saffelle as having attended both Mount Vernon and George Washington High Schools. There is a memorial marker at now George Washington Middle School on Braddock Road in the city that incudes his name.

Private Saffelle still has relatives living in Francona. His nephew, Jeffrey, lives with his wife Sohna in the Island Creek Community off Beulah Street. Jeff provided the picture of himself at Private Saffelle's gravesite in Arlington National Cemetery. The picture of Private Saffelle is from the 1943 Mount Vernon yearbook.

Private Saffelle's mother's maiden name was Annie Virginia Dove, making her the grandmother of Carol Hakenson, wife of Don Hakenson, the Vice President of History for the Franconia Museum. We know Stewart and Carol are related because both trace their ancestry to Indiana Devers Dove, Annie's mother.

We all owe Private Saffelle, the Boys From Bedford, and all who stormed the beaches at Normandy that day a special prayer. We remember their sacrifice so we might continue to live in freedom!