Editor’s note: A group of Staten Islanders, including students from Wagner College and its choral group, are in Normandy, France, to honor those who fought and those who died in the D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944 -- the largest seaborne invasion in history. This opportunity on the 80th anniversary was developed by and is led by Lori Weintrob, director of the Wagner College Holocaust Center, and Thomas Juneau, director of choral activities and conductor. In this historic photo, troops are shown landing during the D-Day invasion in 1944.
(Cuyahoga County Community College's Crile Archive Center) More than 60 Wagner College students, educators and family members are in Normandy today to honor the memory of our veterans for the 80th anniversary of D-Day. What makes this extraordinary, is this trip to France was inspired by William A. Morris, a Staten Island legend and Wagner College alum, who served at D-Day and whose daughter, Dolores Morris, has joined the trip.
William A. Morris Jr. (Staten Island Advance/Hilton Flores) Staff-Shot We arrived in Caen on Monday, May 20, and visited the American Cemetery on Tuesday for our first choral performance, including singing “America the Beautiful.
” There were many teary-eyed moments over dinner as the students and families took stock of the gravity of the place where we have come. During “Operation Overlord,” more than 150,000 allied troops landed on the shores of Normandy to fight against Nazi tyranny. As Gen.
Dwight D. Eisenh.
