ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 30, 1996 TAG: 9601300081
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
Having been stopped twice, by technical problems and bad weather, Roanoke-area veterans have decided to move their D-Day time capsule ceremony indoors.
A symbolic burying of the capsule will be held at 2 p.m. on Feb. 9 at the Roanoke Valley History Museum on the third floor of Center in the Square in downtown Roanoke. The capsule, which contains items from the museum's D-Day exhibit, will be entombed at the Roanoke War Memorial in Lee Plaza when the weather allows.
The National D-Day Memorial Foundation originally planned to bury the capsule in Lee Plaza on June 6, 1994, the 50th anniversary of D-Day, but the capsule was unsuitable for burial. After a professional firm encased the museum items in another capsule, the burial was rescheduled for last Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Day. But wintry weather canceled that event.
The capsule is to be opened June 6, 2044, the 100th anniversary of D-Day, when Allied armies invaded Normandy in northern France during World War II.
D-Day holds particular significance for Roanoke, Bedford and other Western Virginia communities because units of the 29th Division's 116th Infantry Regiment led the assault on Omaha Beach, where the invasion's bloodiest fighting took place. The 116th Infantry was a Virginia National Guard outfit that traced its history to George Washington and Stonewall Jackson.
Roanoke donated space near the war memorial for the capsule's burial and a bronze cover for the burial site. The late John Will Creasy, a Roanoke artist and D-Day veteran, designed the cover and wrote its inscription, a tribute to all who took part in the invasion.
Speakers for the ceremony will be Daniel E. Karnes, commander of American Legion Post No. 3 and a member of the D-Day Foundation board, and Roanoke Mayor David Bowers.
Following the ceremony, a ribbon cutting will be held for the museum's new D-Day exhibit. The public is invited to attend both events.
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