WWII veteran thank you dinner postponed to September due to virus
ROANOKE, Va. โ An event honoring our World War II veterans will have to wait until September because of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the past 35 years, Bernard Marie has honored those who fought for the Allied Forces with a dinner the day before D-Day. Marie hosts the dinner as a thank you since he was a just a boy when American troops stormed the beaches of Normandy to free his country from captivity. He has now written a book, โD-Day in the Eyes of a Boy,โ so others will remember what America did for Europe. You have one guy who was killing people because they were not the same color of skin, same religion, million of million of Jewish.
World War II Army paratrooper from Roanoke dies at 98
John Kessler, a Roanoke native who served as a paratrooper with the Army in World War II, died on Tuesday. He returned to Roanoke after WWII, and worked as a printer with the Roanoke Times for more than 30 years. Kessler often talked about his service in later years, and served as the Grand Marshal of Roanokeโs St. Patrickโs Day Parade in 2012. Bernard Marie, a friend of Kesslerโs who organizes an annual dinner for WWII veterans, says Kesslerโs death is a reminder his generation is fading away. โJohn was certainly the guy who said, โWorld War II veterans need to tell people what we did,โ" said Marie.