Oak Ridge NJROTC to travel to Normandy next year for 80th anniversary of D-Day

Donna Smith, The Oak Ridger
Updated ·2 min read

The city known for its role in efforts to end World War II will be sending its high school Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) students and chaperones to the D-Day Memorial Parade in Normandy, France, on the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.

The Oak Ridge Board of Education recently gave its approval to the June 3-11, 2024, trip for the NJROTC program students and four chaperones.

This was the second time the school board had OK'd the trip. The board initially approved the trip in early 2022, according to a March 2022 story in The Oak Ridger. NJROTC Chief Ryan Nicholls said he felt there was a lack of commitment and follow up from the cadets, so the trip was cancelled, according to information from Molly Gallagher Smith, school system communications specialist. Due to renewed interest and much more motivation to make it happen, the trip was reinitiated and required board approval again. It was approved by all board members present, with member Heather Hartmann absent.

The estimated cost will be $145,000, to be paid by the students and Oak Ridge High School, according to the documents submitted to the board. The cost will be $4,300 per cadet with their costs "subsidized using ROTC reimbursed funds, based on their level of fundraising and unit participation."

The cadets and four adult chaperones, including Nicholls, will leave on June 3, 2024, and return on June 11. In addition to participating in the parade, they'll visit other key World War II historic sites in Normandy and Paris, France.

The sample tour schedule from the D-Day Memorial Parade organizers includes suggested visits to:

  • Point du Hoc, where U.S. Army Rangers scaled 100-foot cliffs and seized German artillery that could have fired on the troops landing at Omaha and Utah beaches.

  • Utah Beach and the WWII American memorial.

  • The American Cemetery at Brittany, along with participating in the mass band performance of "Hymn to the Fallen."

  • The medieval town of Mount St. Michel.

  • The tribute ceremony at the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach, which will include wreath laying and another mass band performance of the hymn;

  • The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe. However, the Paris Cathedral at Notre Dame had a fire four years ago and recent news reports indicate it might not be open to visitors until the end of 2024.

The ORHS NJROTC traveled to to Hawaii in December 2020 for the Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade on the 79th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Oak Ridger's News Editor Donna Smith covers Oak Ridge area news. Email her at dsmith@oakridger.com and follow her on Twitter@ridgernewsed.

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The Oak Ridge High NJROTC before a high school football game between Jefferson County and Oak Ridge at Blankenship Field in Oak Ridge on Aug. 18. The NJROTC cadets and chaperones will travel to Normandy and Paris, France next June to participate in the D-Day Memorial Parade.
The Oak Ridge High NJROTC before a high school football game between Jefferson County and Oak Ridge at Blankenship Field in Oak Ridge on Aug. 18. The NJROTC cadets and chaperones will travel to Normandy and Paris, France next June to participate in the D-Day Memorial Parade.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Oak Ridge NJROTC to travel to Normandy for 80th anniversary of D-Day