Rockingham Native Jarod Ricks and UNCC Band to Honor D-Day in Normandy

Now, 74 years later, UNC Charlotte will represent our nation in the commemoration of D-Day, the launch of the pivotal 1944 Allied liberation of Europe.

The Pride of Niner Nation Marching Band has been selected to perform in Normandy in events marking the 74th D-Day anniversary; the first university band from North Carolina to be invited. Here at home, the University community will come together in a celebration of the stories that help us take stock of the many ways in which our Greatest Generation’s inspiration now lives within us.

Rockingham native Jarod Ricks will be in Normandy with the Pride of Niner Nation Band as it participates in the D-Day ceremonial performances.

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s origins are inextricably bound to the Greatest Generation and WWII.

WATCH THE DOCUMENTARY VIDEO PROMO HERE.

Amid post-war optimism and a renewed American commitment to educational opportunities, UNC Charlotte’s first students returned home and enrolled in the college created for them. World War II Veterans propelled UNC Charlotte toward what it has become today.  

The University is sending a communications team to Normandy to document the band’s experience in a video documentary that will live stream at 3 p.m., Wednesday, June 6, and feature performances by the band, the reactions of Generation Z students as they touch wartime history, and the connection to the era that created UNC Charlotte.

Several members of the band have relatives who fought at Normandy and some never made it home.  Two members of the band, Emily Asbill and Tyriq Evans, will speak at the D-Day commemoration ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery. The band will plant flags – each bearing the name of a Veteran – on campus and again at  Normandy’s Omaha Beach on June 4. Each band member will wear a sash in memory or in honor of a Veteran from any war at each performance while in France.

Curtis Chancy, a non-traditional student., U.S. Army Veteran of three conflicts, and member of the band, is featured in this Charlotte Observer story:

“His great-uncle died at D-Day in Normandy.  Now this veteran, and his bandmates, will march there.” 

We asked our campus community to share memories of their WWII veterans and we’ve collected more than 80 stories which now live on the Normandy/war stories site. 

The Pride’s participation at the 74th D-Day commemoration, the collection of stories and photos; and the documentary now in production is called Origins of Opportunity.

The communications team will be collecting interviews (some with Jarod), b-roll (including drone flyovers of Normandy and cemeteries) and still shots, all from the band’s experiences in France to be shared with media for D-Day coverage. Information will be sent by June 5 by email with a link to a google folder.

Special interviews with UNC Charlotte historian Mark Wilson,  professor and Holocaust survivor Susan Cernyak-Spatz,  and the first African-American woman on the air in N.C. Hattie Leeper have been prerecorded. See the video segments at Normandy/Historical Ties. 

Access the June 6 live stream on UNC Charlotte’s official Facebook page, Normandy.uncc.edu or Inside UNC Charlotte and stream if you desire.

We invite you to cover UNC Charlotte’s link to the Greatest Generation and the Pride of the Niner Nation Band in Normandy and would welcome a conversation.

Editor’s note:  It is the policy of the Richmond Observer to print news release material in its original format, as it was received, with minimal, if any, editorial adjustments.