Chris Kovatch and Christi Thayer were married on June 6, 1997, if my calculations are accurate.  This Kovatch family celebrated their 22nd wedding anniversary according to a social media post by Chris on Thursday.

Kovatch is a regular contributor to The Orange Leader chronicling events and milestones of his family while also musing on topics and events in their lives.

Others have chosen June 6 for their wedding date.  Choosing a wedding date can be as simple as settling on a year, month and day of the week.  The date may or may not be significant.

In 1997, the day of the week designated June 6 was Friday.

The headlines on the front page of The Orange Leader were as follows:

• Many gamblers can’t quit
• Myers not guilty
• 5 trees champs
• Unemployment rate going down

In 1944, June 6 landed on Tuesday.

A sampling of the headlines on the front page of The Orange Leader were as follows:

• Allies Invade France – Beachheads established
• Greatest seaborne armada hits France

June 6 has been for 22 years and will be for years to come M-Day for the Kovatch’s.  But it was D-Day for Allied Forces in World War II.

D-Day was the day an invasion took place on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France.  It is considered a turning point in the struggle against Germany.

Many lives were lost on that day.  Many lives were lost during the course of the war.

One week ago today, Orange Rotarians and Lamar State College-Orange staff gathered at the Brown Center as a time capsule was unearthed.

You can read about it in the Wednesday, June 3 edition of The Orange Leader.

There were many items in the capsule.

One, in particular, was significant.

It was a plastic jar 1/3 full of muddy sand.  The label on the jar indicated the sand was taken from Omaha Beach in Normandy; the beach where allied soldiers invaded Northern France seeking to defeat Hitler’s Third Reich.

It is appropriate to commemorate an invasion on a beach in France.  The D-day invasion was significant. It is a part of the price our nation has paid for freedom and a way of life, which allows us all unlimited opportunity.

The anniversary of this event, which took place 75 years ago, is commemorated annually.  It is also right for the Kovatch’s to commemorate the anniversary of their marriage. These two events point out many blessings, which have come from the events of June 6 throughout the years.

 

Bobby Tingle is the publisher of The Orange Leader. You can reach him at bobby.tingle@orangeleader.com.