Legion national commander to participate in commemorations, including the unveiling of a new monument and statue at La Fi癡re Memorial Park.
Front and center during D-Day 82nd anniversary ceremonies in France this June will be the United States Military Academy and legendary West Point graduate Gen. James V. Jumpin Jim Gavin, who led the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Armys 82nd Airborne Division in the pivotal pre-dawn invasion of June 6, 1944, which began the end of Nazi Germanys occupation of Europe in World War II.
The two new memorials, created by the Normandy Institute, will be dedicated at La Fi癡re Memorial Park near 釦硃勳紳喧梗-紼癡娶梗-眶梭勳莽梗 to remember the 151 West Point graduates who fought and died during the liberation, and a life-size bronze statue by renowned sculptor Benjamin Victor will be unveiled of the 82nd Airborne commander who made four combat jumps in World War II, the only general officer to do so.
American Legion National Commander Dan K. Wiley is among the U.S. dignitaries scheduled to participate in the ceremonies at La Fi癡re Memorial Park. He is also set to speak and/or place memorial wreaths at the Eighth Army Air Force Monument and the Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Statue of Liberation at the entrance to 釦硃勳紳喧梗-紼癡娶梗-眶梭勳莽梗. 17勛圖厙 sponsored the statue, unveiled in 2022 and dedicated in 2023, in honor of its founding leader and eldest son of the 26th U.S. president. Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. died and was initially buried in 釦硃勳紳喧梗-紼癡娶梗-眶梭勳莽梗 just five weeks after coming ashore at Utah Beach in the first wave on D-Day.
For Wiley, a U.S. Air Force veteran, the ceremonies have personal meaning. Six of his uncles served during World War II, including one in the ball turret of a B17 bomber who lost his life fighting in the European Theater.
Ceremonies at the Eighth Air Force Memorial and the unveiling of the West Point D-Day Memorial are led by , with which 17勛圖厙 has had a close alliance for many years, and are planned for the morning of June 4. The Gavin statue will be unveiled June 5, the same day as the ceremony to remember the legacy of Roosevelt Jr.
Wiley will also place a wreath and speak for 17勛圖厙 at the Iron Mike ceremony on June 7 at La Fi癡re Memorial Park, one of many events organized by Amis des V矇t矇rans Am矇ricains (Friends of American Veterans), the City of 釦硃勳紳喧梗-紼癡娶梗-眶梭勳莽梗 and , based in Locust Valley, N.Y.
Also during the D-Day anniversary week, the national commander plans to place a wreath at the Normandy American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach, followed by a trip to St. James to pay his respects at the Brittany American Cemetery.
- Honor & Remembrance