Click here to watch Lane’s live coverage of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in Normandy, France.
Category: D-Day In Focus
Reports from my special assignment in France to cover the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion in 1944.
Fmr. East Texas nurse, 103, recalls treating soldiers wounded on front lines of D-Day
At 103, memories of serving during one of modern history’s defining moments are still a source of pride for Lucille Wright, who now lives along the shores of Toledo Bend Reservoir in rural Sabine County. She served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War II from June 1943 to February 1946, achieving the…
Last practices for 1944 D-Day invasion staged two weeks earlier at Tyler airport
Two weeks before the largest amphibious invasion in military history was launched on D-Day, the U.S. military coordinated an exercise involving air drops over Tyler. According to a May 20, 1944 report in the The Tyler Courier-Times, an afternoon newspaper no longer in publication, the maneuver would involve air-dropping 25 thousand pounds of equipment onto…
German soldiers captured in World War II held in East Texas POW camps
As the unprecedented D-Day invasion in France got underway in June 1944, German prisoners of war were arriving in Texas by the thousands. According to the Texas Historical Commission, more than 50 thousand German soldiers were held at nearly 70 prisoner of war internment camps in Texas during World War II. Many were captured in…
Longview HS Lobo Choir group takes final bow after week in Paris, France
The Longview High School Lobo Choir’s week abroad is winding down with a second day of immersion in the history and culture of France’s capital city. On Monday, June 10, their final day in France, the choir performed at La Madeleine Church, known for its atypical neo-classical architecture style that mimics the Pantheon. Originally intended…
East Texas soldier tapped to wrangle wild horses ahead of Normandy invasion
The National Archives and Records Administration’s work to catalogue millions of photos from World War II has spanned decades. “The Second World War was documented on a huge scale by thousands of photographers and artists who created millions of pictures,” the agency stated on its website. The growing image archive continues to reveal fascinating details…
Longview HS choir performs in D-Day Memorial Parade in Normandy
On Saturday, June 8, the Longview High School Choir made a visit to the Normandy American Cemetery, a day after their scheduled performance during a commemoration ceremony was canceled due to an unplanned visit by U.S. President Joe Biden. Students walked through the rows of marble grave markers and reflected on the lives lost in…
French village salutes fallen WWII hero who trained in East Texas
80 years ago, soldiers from Texas known as the ‘Tough Hombres’ arrived in the town of Périers during the Battle of Normandy in northwest France. This week, this small town of two thousand residents will honor their liberators from the U.S. Army’s 90th Infantry Division with several memorial events. A focal point of the tribute…
Longview Choir performs in D-Day remembrance ceremony at Brittany American Cemetery
On their third day in France, the Longview High School Choir had a deeply moving opportunity to perform on hallowed ground. The Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial is the final resting place of 4,404 American service members, most of whom lost their lives in the Normandy and Brittany Campaigns of 1944. On Thursday, June 6,…
WATCH: A solemn visit to Normandy’s Omaha Beach
Click here to see the final resting place of more than 9,000 American war heroes.
Tyler’s Camp Fannin trained soldiers for front lines at Battle of Normandy
Over the course of World War II, more than 200 thousand military personnel trained at Camp Fannin, located between Tyler and Winona, before seeing combat on the front lines in both Europe and the Pacific. Today, little evidence remains of what was once a sprawling, 14 thousand acre complex dedicated to the training of infantry…
7 things to know about the D-Day invasion
World leaders and even a choir from Longview High School will be attending the 80th anniversary commemorations of the D-Day invasion at Normandy, France. Here are 7 things to know about World War II’s pivotal Battle of Normandy: 1. D-Day was the largest amphibious invasion in military history. On June 6, 1944, Allied forces stormed…
WATCH: Arromanches, site of D-Day’s artificial harbor
Click here to see how the site of the Gold Beach invasion and a critical Mulberry harbor marked the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
Artifacts from Battleship Texas flown to France for 80th anniversary of D-Day
80 years after the U.S.S. Texas bombarded the Normandy coast in support of the Allied invasion on D-Day, artifacts from the historic battleship will return to France as part of the commemorations planned on June 6. In 1944, the U.S.S. Texas provided critical support for the landings at Pointe du Hoc and at Omaha Beach….
Understanding the D-Day invasion, Battle of Normandy
On their second day abroad in France, the Longview Choir group continued their immersion in history with visits to Arromanches-les-Bains, Gold Beach, Saint Lo and Bayeux. The students from Longview visited the D-Day 360 Museum in Arromanches. Here, the choir members will got an overview of the history they will explore in the week ahead….
Longview High School choir embarks on trip to perform at D-Day observance in France
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…
Lane Luckie 