What: The opening celebration for a massive hand-knitted D-Day homage
When: Monday, April 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: 500 Forrestal Road, Cape May Airport
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The Longest Yarn is a three-dimensional wool tapestry knitted and crocheted by hundreds of volunteers from around the world. Created with the guidance of historians retained by the project to ensure historical accuracy, the creator has carefully chosen each scene to depict the events of D-Day. It will make its American debut on April 14 right here in Cape May County. It will be on display through Labor Day.
The tapestry is unique in its design and meticulously executed. Measuring 80 meters (265 feet) in length, it symbolizes both the 80+ years since D-Day and the 80 days it took the Allies to liberate Paris. The Longest Yarn tells the pivotal story of June 6, 1944, from the buildup and launch in England to the Normandy invasion. The Battle for Carentan took place from June 10 to 14, 1944, on the approaches to and within the town. American forces aimed to secure the U.S. beachheads at Utah Beach and Omaha Beach, establishing a continuous defensive line to ward off expected German counterattacks. The current mayor of Carentan is Jean-Pierre L’honneur. After its world tour, the city is constructing a museum to house The Longest Yarn.
The Longest Yarn will become a national treasure as it travels from the (NASW) Aviation Museum to the Chapel of Four Chaplains in Philadelphia, then on to the Women’s Auxiliary in Washington, DC, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and to Fort Mills, Kentucky, for the 101st Airborne Division.
The Longest Yarn is inspired by the 80th anniversary of D-Day and was unveiled in Carentan, France, in the Normandy region on June 6, 2024.
Each year, the anniversary of D-Day holds special significance for the family of Cape May’s Carroll Villa, Mad Batter, and Cricket Club. Their founder and patriarch, Harry Kulkowitz, was a member of the forces that landed on Utah Beach on June 6, 1944. His son, Mark Kulkowitz, traveled to Europe each year to commemorate D-Day with his father, Harry. Mark and his wife raised their family in West Cape May, where they were long-time residents. Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum is located inside historic Hangar #1 at the Cape May Airport.
The site was formerly Naval Air Station Wildwood, which served as a World War II dive-bomber training center. The museum is dedicated to the 42 aviators who perished while training at Naval Air Station Wildwood between 1943 and 1945. Current museum hours are 10am-4pm daily.