The welcome was given by President Pro Tempore Bryan Slaba on Wednesday, November 13th. Pastor Bill Heermann was asked to offer up a prayer. Pastor gave thanks for the beautiful day and was grateful that we were gathered as Rotarians and asked for guidance going about our workday.

Guests today were Fr. Jim Fred-rich, guest of Francis Doom and Julie Doom, guest of her husband Jeff.

A Membership Minute was given by Rotarian Patty Frei which gives our visiting Wagner Community School Seniors an informational outline of what Rotary is and what Rotary does in the Wagner Community.

WCS Seniors present today were Tony Brugier, parents Tony Sr. and Nicole Bruguier; Corbin Johnson, parents Mike and Marsha Johnson; Dalynnn Weston, parents Gwyn Weston and Eric Olson; Nicole Cummings, parents Yvette Zephier and Suneon Cummings; Ezra Bettelyoun, parents Waylon and Teresa Bettelyoun;AliyahHopkins,parent Lacy Zephier.

Scott McAdargh drew the winning ticket and tried to get the Queen of Hearts but only drew a 6 of Diamonds.

Secretary/Treasurer Patty Frei announced that Rotarian Bill’s attendance team had zero absences today, but Rotarian Laurie’s team had 5 absences, bringing their team totals to 2 for Bill and 14 for Laurie. $13 was collected for the Queen of Hearts drawing bringing the total to $112.00.

The meeting was turned over to Rotarian Linda Soukup who gave a Power Point Presentation on a trip that some of her family members took this past June to Europe for the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day Normandy Invasion. Eleven family members made the trip on the first day of June.

The trip was guided by Rupiper’s Tours out of Yankton. There were two bus loads of people from all over the country who converged on Newark, New Jersey in the course of two days. A day tour of New York City was given to participants who were waiting for the arrival of all the group. The overseas flight was made at night and arrival was on June 1st in Paris, France. A guided bus/walking tour of the city took in all the historic buildings and statues. The most popular one was of course, the Eiffel Tower.

June 2 was spent driving to the Normandy area in France. There were two stops along the way; one at a chalet where field Marshall Rommel’s headquarters were. We could take pictures but couldn’t tour the facility. The second stop was a small ocean side town which had a 360-degree circular Cinema which graphically tells the story of the landings on Normandy. The remains of a Mulberry Harbor, which was a portable temporary harbor to facilitate the off-loading of cargo onto the beaches. 22,000 tons of equipment and supplies were unloaded at this location.

The next four days were spent visiting the Normandy area landing beaches. Sword Beach, Juno Beach, and Gold Beach. The Normandy countryside was beautiful, roses growing 5 and 6 feet tall, lush gardens and flowers everywhere. The homes have all been rebuilt in their former architecture. There are very few modern looking structures.

We visited the cemetery at Omaha Beach where the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is situated on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel. The cemetery contains the graves of 9,387 of our military dead and there is also a Wall of the Missing inscribed with the names of 1,557 soldiers who are missing. There was a museum for Omaha Beach at the cemetery, but it was closed due to the preparations for June 6th. Red carpeting was being laid, chairs setting up, and a stage built for the visiting dignitaries and veterans.

On Wednesday, June 5th we visited Utah Beach where Linda’s father, Merle DeWald went ashore and the monument to his army unit, the Tough Ombres of the 90th Division was the center of attention for the family. Many pictures were taken of this moment. In 1971 Merle and his wife made the trip with some of his Army buddies from the 90th and their picture was taken at this same monument. Our trip really was intended to follow his path through Europe.

June 6th was the big day. We had received official invitations to the ceremony through our tour company. There were several entrances set up to handle the large crowd. 43,000 people were present for this ceremony. We were not allowed to take purses into the ceremony. You needed your Driver’s License or ID, your Official Invitation, and your passport to enter. We had received a sack lunch from the tour company, so we sat for the next two and half hours and waited. Security was very tight. There were several large screens set up and we watched those for the ceremony as they were blocking the actual stage. There were many WWII veterans present on the stage and the French President, the British Prime Minister, and President Trump spoke. Security was very tight and when it was over, no one could leave their seats until the dignitaries had left the area by helicopter.

The most impressive sight was at the end and there were four flyovers. The first was fighter jets, then two flyovers of old WWII aircraft, and then the jets again leaving a trail of red, white, and blue smoke.

Time had run out and the program ended. Soukup still has slides from the rest of the trip and offered them for another program.