If you are going to be a history nerd, be good at it! If you are going to be a WWII nerd, be really good at it. For example, take history nerd holidays off work and spend the whole day geeking out. 2024 Andrea did exactly that on the 80th anniversary of D-Day. She also bought multiple D-Day t-shirts to commemorate the occasion, and in true Andrea Standard Time fashion is sharing about this amazing day in July 2026.
I started the day waking up early to watch a live stream broadcast of the special commemorative ceremony at Normandy, most definitely on my bucket list of places to visit. The Greatest Generation continues to inspire! It’s so important to celebrate our WWII veterans when you can because there are fewer and fewer left. One of my plans for the day involved doing exactly that. After I watched the live stream and sufficiently over-posted on social media, it was time for the multi-city/2 state adventure to begin.
My first stop was the Veterans History Museum in Brevard, NC. I had been following the museum on social media for a long time but had yet to make it for a visit. I will include links to all of the places I mention in the post at the bottom. If I include it now, you’ll go down a rabbit hole of awesomeness on the websites. You can also check current operating hours. The Veterans Museum is free and an AMAZING treasure trove of memorabilia and research material connecting the past to the present.
There are also some really special monuments outside. It is very easy to get to, located in the heart of downtown Brevard. Rooms are organized by era and branches of the military. You will see photographs of local veterans, uniforms, and more. There is also an exhibit devoted to women in the military when you first enter along with a Jeep. Of course, I was most excited about the WWII room and there was a section devoted to D-Day! A museum gift shop loves to see me coming, and I definitely wanted to support this comprehensive community resource by buying a shirt!
I mentioned above how important it is to honor our WWII veterans when we can. I planned my itinerary for the entire day based on that. When I found out I got off the wait list for a D-Day talk with a Navy veteran who was part of D-Day, you would have thought I won the lottery. I was VERY excited. The reason I am writing this post now is because I found out he passed away recently. I am so grateful I got to attend his event.
In a previous blog post, I mentioned how amazing the programming is for my local Buncombe County Library System. Other Western North Carolina libraries also hold stellar events! This D-Day talk was part of the Henderson County Library System at the Etowah Branch (which I had never heard of). George Sarros was a US Navy veteran and featured in a book that was a compilation of veteran stories. He shared his harrowing experience with Exercise Tiger rescuing participants and more. I got to meet him after and he signed 2 books for me. I got one for my dad, who inspired my love for WWII, as well. Once again, I am so humbled and honored that I got to meet George.
Here comes the mutli-state. And no, you aren’t going to get any restaurant recommendations for lunch at this point because if I am on a crazed history adventure I usually just eat peanut butter and crackers, recaffeinate, and go on about my excursioning and end up hangry. This day being no exception to that. The great thing about Asheville is being so close to Georgia, Tennessee, and most especially Greenville, SC and one of my favorite regional museums.
The Upcountry History Museum is a phenomenal museum. It’s a Smithsonian affiliate. It’s not free, but is very reasonably priced (under $20). They have some permanent exhibits and some rotating ones. At this time they had a D-Day exhibit and I had waited to check it out because I wanted to go literally on D-Day. My favorite thing about history is not battlefield strategy, not the events, and not the places. It’s the people. That’s why hearing George’s story was so meaningful to me. I love when museums feature local veterans. This exhibit had some wonderful keepsakes, beautiful letters, and lots of fascinating facts about D-Day itself. I did go back and see it again. Greenville, SC is just a hop, skip, and jump away at just about an hour. If it’s within 3 hours, it’s a day trip in my mind!
I highly recommend following your local/regional libraries on social media (and of course history museums as well). If you are local to Western NC, there are several phenomenal options. Here is a link to post about the Buncombe County Library System: A History Nerd’s Guide to Asheville: Public Libraries
Several years ago, I wrote a blog post for teachers with a primary source activity: https://www.thesocialstudieswhisperer.com/2016/06/tips-for-teaching-d-day-any-day/
Links to the above places and other D-Day resources:
