By JAY CONLEY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

Archives Reprint

   BEDFORD - The skies looked grim, but about 100 people who braved morning dampness at the National D-Day Memorial on Monday were rewarded when the sun broke through the clouds just as the Veterans Day ceremony began.

    What they saw and heard was a program composed almost entirely of high school students gathered to pay homage to military veterans who sacrificed much to preserve America's freedom.

    "Today we honor our past, current and future veterans," said April Cheek, the memorial's director of education. "Without their perseverance, our world would be very different today. ... We can only say, 'Thank you.'"

    As ROTC units from William Fleming High School in Roanoke, Franklin County High and Monticello High in Charlottesville stood at attention, the Staunton River High School brass quintet played "The Star-Spangled Banner" and other patriotic songs from the platform of the memorial's Overlord arch.

    Maj. Paul Willard, commander of the Franklin County ROTC unit, reminded the audience that Veterans Day is commemorated on the same date as Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of World War I.

    World War I was known as "the war to end all wars." But just two decades later came World War II, which cost even more lives worldwide.

    Today, 57 years after the end of that one, Americans are engaged in the war against terrorism, Willard said.

    Willard said he was once asked by a student why the United States had never been invaded. He responded that the Atlantic and Pacific oceans were difficult for an invasion force to cross.

    But as the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 indicate, America is no longer safe from aggressive forces on the other side of the world.

    "Our two oceans no longer give us protection," Willard said.

    Though only a handful of veterans were on hand for the event, they were appreciative of the students' efforts.

    "I thought they did a great job," said Ralph Banks of Forest. "I especially liked their folding of the flag. There were some steps in there I'd forgotten."

    Banks and his buddy, Van Deas, who lives in Goode, have been to the memorial often since it opened in June last year. They were in the Army Air Corps during World War II but weren't part of the D-Day invasion.

    "It's the most impressive memorial I've ever seen," Banks said.

    John Talton, a Navy D-Day veteran from Radford, had planned to go to a ceremony in Christiansburg. But when it was cancelled, he drove to the D-Day Memorial.

    Such ceremonies give him a chance to talk with other veterans.

    "It's nice to come over and jawbone with some of these guys," Talton said.

    But even Talton, at 81, was caught off guard when a man who heard him telling a D-Day invasion story approached him and thanked him for his service to America.

    Speechless at first, Talton tried to play down his contribution.

    "We didn't know what we were getting into. We were all volunteers and we were young."

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