Look Back: 78th anniversary of D-Day
Jun. 5—Residents of the Wyoming Valley awakened June 6, 1944, to learn the Allies had begun the European invasion against the German Army that occupied France.
Scores of people flocked to churches, stores and schools delayed opening or dismissed early and coal operators permitted men to leave work.
"Special offerings and services were held in all churches in the valley, starting at dawn and continuing throughout the day and night," the Times Leader reported June 7, 1944.
Many Catholic churches recited the Holy Rosary every hour on the hour while Protestant, Methodist and Lutheran churches remained open for prayer all day. Special invasion services were held at Ohav Zedek Synagogue on South Franklin Street in Wilkes-Barre.
The invasion resulted in a substantial increase in the sales of United States War Bonds and Stamps at local post offices and banks that continued for several weeks.
"Majority of stores in central city were closed until noon to allow employees to attend church services. Wilkes-Barre City schools were closed following morning sessions at 11 to allow the children to join their parents in worship," the Times Leader reported.
Residents who did not display the American flag at their homes prior to the invasion hung the Stars and Stripes. The Wilkes-Barre Record reported every home along South and North Franklin and South and North River streets had an American flag hanging on porches and windows.
In a rare event in Philadelphia, the Liberty Bell was rung.
The Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania advised residents to refrain from making long distance phone calls as phone lines were inundated.
Local newspapers devoted many pages to the news of the invasion with international stories, pictures and maps tracking the progress of the Allies against the Nazis.
One of the first stories involving local servicemen was published in the June 10, 1944, editions of the Times Leader and Wilkes-Barre Record reporting about a downed plane over the English Channel.
Sgt. James P. Franklin Jr., of Shickshinny, and Sgt. Samuel L. Latons, of Pittston, were in a glider-owing twin-engine Dakota that was shot down over water by Nazi flak.
"They made a forced landing in the channel about 10 miles off the coast of Cherbourg and piled into a dinghy," the Times Leader reported.
Franklin was a crew chief and Latons was a radio operator. They and other crew were saved by a British destroyer that nearly mistaken the rubber raft as a German U-Boat.
In the weeks following the invasion, sadly, the War Department notified parents of lost, injured or missing servicemen.
The first notifications published in local newspapers reported the deaths of U.S. Army Pfc. George Kashula, 22, 38 Park St., Korn Krest, Hanover Township, and U.S. Army Pfc. Bernard Loboda, 405 S. Sherman St., Wilkes-Barre.
"PFC Kashula was killed in action on June 6, the first day of the invasion. Serving with the amphibious forces, he had been overseas several months," the Times Leader reported July 6, 1944.
"PFC Loboda was also killed on the first day of the invasion. He was inducted in November 1942, and was trained at Camp Breckinridge, Ky, later being transferred to the Rangers. He was overseas since last December," the newspaper reported.
Loboda was educated in Marymount School, Park Avenue, Wilkes-Barre and GAR High School.
The Times Leader on July 8, 2013, reported a story about a then 13-year-old boy from France who places flowers at the gravesite of Kashula three times per year in the American Cemetery in Normandy, France.
