Statues at National D-Day Memorial to be turned into 3D renderings

BEDFORD, Va. – People will soon get a much closer look at the statues at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford.

On Monday, staff from Virginia Commonwealth University scanned the sculptures. The work will be turned into 3D renderings that will be made available to the public, which should help bring the memorial to life for people who cannot make the trip to Bedford.

"It's a good way to be able to get these things hands-on, where they can see it up close on the screen and study all the little details of these statues and really see the expression on the statues' faces and it just helps bring them that much more closer and that much more connected," said Rusty Nix, communications manager for the Virginia WWI and WWII Commemoration Commission. 

Officials with the D-Day Memorial say the scans should especially prove helpful to teachers and students as they learn about the invasion of Normandy, which helped bring World War II to an end. This June marks the 75th anniversary of D-Day.