Local 80th D-Day Anniversary Events Scheduled Tonight, Throughout Weekend

This year marks the 80th Anniversary of D-Day in Europe during WWII, and both Camp Toccoa at Currahee and the Currahee Military Museum are marking the anniversary with events this weekend. 

The D-Day Banquet is scheduled for this evening, May 31, with festivities beginning at 6 p.m. and dinner served at 7 p.m. Guest speaker is Ben Wax, Jr, who will share stories and anecdotes about his father, Captain Ben Wax, Sr. who commanded Alpha Company of the 501st Infantry Parachute Regiment during WWII.

Silent Auction and other items to support Camp Toccoa at Currahee, Inc will be available.

Camp Toccoa at Currahee, Inc Gift shop will be open both before and after festivities featuring unique items only available at this gift shop.

Banquet tickets are ​$75 per person or $700  for a reserved table of 8. To purchase tickets or a reserved table, visit the link attached to this story on wnegradio.com.

Tomorrow, June 1, will begin early with the D-Day Run at Currahee Mountain, hosted by Camp Toccoa at Currahee. The Camp will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Currahee Military Museum, 160 North Alexander Street in downtown Toccoa, will have special exhibits and displays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. inside the museum, as well as outside displays, weather permitting. 

At 6 p.m. the Museum will host the 2nd Annual “Sobel Special’ dinner and program as a tribute to the men that trained at Camp Toccoa during WWII. The dinner is open to the public and will feature a program about the life of one of the German soldiers, Heinrich Fahrian.

A comment by The Historical Society Board of Directors regarding the program states, “It has always been easy to think that all German soldiers were the same, but sadly that was not always the case. German soldiers faced drastic consequences for refusing legal orders during the war. One and a half million German soldiers were sentenced to imprisonment for refusing to follow an order and 30,000 were sentenced to death, of whom 23,000 were executed.”

During the program, which will follow the 6 p.m. dinner, Living Historian Wesley Farrington, from Matthew, North Carolina, will be speaking as Fahrian about the difference between a German Soldier and a Nazi German Soldier, and the effects the war had on the families of the soldiers, during and after the war. Historical Society Board members say they hope everyone will join them at the event to find out if Fahrian was, or was not, a member of the Nazi Party.

There will also be a special presentation by Vietnam Veteran Rick Webber, 1st 506th D. Company, of a shadow box containing part of a parachute that was used to jump into Normandy on June 6, 1944, that was later gifted to Major Dick Winters. This piece of history will return to Normandy to make another jump on the 80th anniversary of D-Day and then be returned back to the museum.

Tickets are $25 and available online, entrées are Spaghetti or Chicken Alfredo Fettuccine. Dinner and program will be in the Mitchell Allen Memorial Hall, 160 North Alexander Street, with limited seating available. Tickets can be purchased online at the link attached to this story on wnegradio.com or can be purchased at the museum gift shop. For more information or tickets, contact (706) 282-5055 or [email protected].