The Longview High School Lobo Choir is setting out on a trip of a lifetime after being invited to perform at the 80th anniversary commemoration of the D-Day landings in Normandy, France.

On Monday, the group of 28 students and seven chaperones, led by director Melody McMullen, left Longview High School on a charter bus bound for DFW International Airport.

A day earlier, the choir gave a preview concert of the songs they will perform in Europe.

An eight-hour flight will take them to France where they will represent the state of Texas in commemorations and performances to mark the Allied landings along the Normandy coast, which ultimately led to the liberation of Europe in World War II.

The next seven days will also be an opportunity for the students to meet with those who witnessed war first-hand.

“The 80th anniversary of D-Day may possibly be the last milestone commemoration veterans of the Battle of Normandy will see in person,” according to a news release by nonprofit Disabled American Veterans (DAV).

The students will pay respects to fallen service members at the American cemeteries in Brittany and at Omaha Beach, where they will also take part in a wreath laying ceremony.

Their week in France will also provide a personal connection to the most significant historic sites of the Normandy invasion, including visits to the coast at Arromanches, Utah and Omaha beaches, the 100-foot cliffs of Pointe du Hoc, Bayeux, St. James, and Mont St. Michel, among others.

On Saturday, June 8, the Longview High School Choir will join other bands, choirs, and orchestras from around the U.S. in performing in the D-Day Memorial Parade through the streets of St. Mere Eglise, the first town to be liberated by American paratroopers.

The group will conclude their week abroad with a two-day visit to Paris, where they will witness the outcome of the liberation of the capital city, which was not originally part of the military campaign that begin with the invasion on D-Day.

Students will tour many of the historic sites that were spared destruction during the war, including Notre Dame Cathedral, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Montmatre, and the Eiffel Tower.

The group will conclude their week abroad with a two-day visit to Paris, where they will witness the outcome of the liberation of the capital city, which was not originally part of the military campaign that begin with the invasion on D-Day.

Monday morning, the students and parents gathered at the school to say their goodbyes as they left for the airport. Lobo choir baritone Andrew Pierce’s great grandfather fought in World War II and died before Pierce was born.

“I look at it as a way to find some kind of connection with him since I never got to meet him. So, for me this will be a way to get some kind of connection I never got to have with him,” Pierce said.

After some last-minute instructions, a picture and a passport check they were off to the bus where there was plenty of parental hugging happening. And Joseph Egbe did just that with his daughter Aurora, after a selfie. He said he thought the choir hit their high note when they performed at the Dallas Mavericks Game, though his daughter and her classmates have since gone above and beyond.

“And then they had the opportunity to go to Carnegie Hall in New York. That blew our minds, right? And then finally when we heard they were going to France we thought, first of all, can we afford it? And then secondly, I mean that’s going to be the opportunity of a lifetime,” Joseph said.

The nearly $170,000 cost of sending the students and chaperones to France was covered by generous donations from individuals, East Texas businesses and organizations, and through the choir’s own fundraising efforts.

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