Accessibility Statement Skip Navigation
  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing
  • Login
  • GDPR
  • Create a Free Account
Return to PRWeb homepage
  • News
  • Resources
  • Contact
When typing in this field, a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you type.

Searching for your content...

No results found. Please change your search terms and try again.
  • News in Focus
      • Browse News Releases

      • All News Releases
      • Multimedia Gallery

      • All Multimedia
      • All Photos
      • All Videos
  • Business & Money
      • Auto & Transportation

      • Aerospace, Defense
      • Air Freight
      • Airlines & Aviation
      • Automotive
      • Maritime & Shipbuilding
      • Railroads and Intermodal Transportation
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Transportation, Trucking & Railroad
      • Travel
      • Trucking and Road Transportation
      • View All Auto & Transportation

      • Business Technology

      • Blockchain
      • Broadcast Tech
      • Computer & Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Components
      • Electronic Design Automation
      • Financial Technology
      • High Tech Security
      • Internet Technology
      • Nanotechnology
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Semiconductors
      • View All Business Technology

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Financial Services & Investing

      • Accounting News & Issues
      • Acquisitions, Mergers and Takeovers
      • Banking & Financial Services
      • Bankruptcy
      • Bond & Stock Ratings
      • Conference Call Announcements
      • Contracts
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Dividends
      • Earnings
      • Earnings Forecasts & Projections
      • Financing Agreements
      • Insurance
      • Investments Opinions
      • Joint Ventures
      • Mutual Funds
      • Private Placement
      • Real Estate
      • Restructuring & Recapitalization
      • Sales Reports
      • Shareholder Activism
      • Shareholder Meetings
      • Stock Offering
      • Stock Split
      • Venture Capital
      • View All Financial Services & Investing

      • General Business

      • Awards
      • Commercial Real Estate
      • Corporate Expansion
      • Earnings
      • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
      • Human Resource & Workforce Management
      • Licensing
      • New Products & Services
      • Obituaries
      • Outsourcing Businesses
      • Overseas Real Estate (non-US)
      • Personnel Announcements
      • Real Estate Transactions
      • Residential Real Estate
      • Small Business Services
      • Socially Responsible Investing
      • Surveys, Polls and Research
      • Trade Show News
      • View All General Business

  • Science & Tech
      • Consumer Technology

      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Blockchain
      • Cloud Computing/Internet of Things
      • Computer Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Consumer Electronics
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Gaming
      • Financial Technology
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Multimedia & Internet
      • Peripherals
      • Social Media
      • STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math)
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Consumer Technology

      • Energy & Natural Resources

      • Alternative Energies
      • Chemical
      • Electrical Utilities
      • Gas
      • General Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Oil & Energy
      • Oil and Gas Discoveries
      • Utilities
      • Water Utilities
      • View All Energy & Natural Resources

      • Environ­ment

      • Conservation & Recycling
      • Environmental Issues
      • Environmental Policy
      • Environmental Products & Services
      • Green Technology
      • Natural Disasters
      • View All Environ­ment

      • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Aerospace & Defense
      • Agriculture
      • Chemical
      • Construction & Building
      • General Manufacturing
      • HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning)
      • Machinery
      • Machine Tools, Metalworking and Metallurgy
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Paper, Forest Products & Containers
      • Precious Metals
      • Textiles
      • Tobacco
      • View All Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Telecomm­unications

      • Carriers and Services
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Telecommunications Equipment
      • Telecommunications Industry
      • VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Telecomm­unications

  • Lifestyle & Health
      • Consumer Products & Retail

      • Animals & Pets
      • Beers, Wines and Spirits
      • Beverages
      • Bridal Services
      • Cannabis
      • Cosmetics and Personal Care
      • Fashion
      • Food & Beverages
      • Furniture and Furnishings
      • Home Improvement
      • Household, Consumer & Cosmetics
      • Household Products
      • Jewelry
      • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
      • Office Products
      • Organic Food
      • Product Recalls
      • Restaurants
      • Retail
      • Supermarkets
      • Toys
      • View All Consumer Products & Retail

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Health

      • Biometrics
      • Biotechnology
      • Clinical Trials & Medical Discoveries
      • Dentistry
      • FDA Approval
      • Fitness/Wellness
      • Health Care & Hospitals
      • Health Insurance
      • Infection Control
      • International Medical Approval
      • Medical Equipment
      • Medical Pharmaceuticals
      • Mental Health
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Supplementary Medicine
      • View All Health

      • Sports

      • General Sports
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Sporting Events
      • Sports Equipment & Accessories
      • View All Sports

      • Travel

      • Amusement Parks and Tourist Attractions
      • Gambling & Casinos
      • Hotels and Resorts
      • Leisure & Tourism
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Passenger Aviation
      • Travel Industry
      • View All Travel

  • Policy & Public Interest
      • Policy & Public Interest

      • Advocacy Group Opinion
      • Animal Welfare
      • Congressional & Presidential Campaigns
      • Corporate Social Responsibility
      • Domestic Policy
      • Economic News, Trends, Analysis
      • Education
      • Environmental
      • European Government
      • FDA Approval
      • Federal and State Legislation
      • Federal Executive Branch & Agency
      • Foreign Policy & International Affairs
      • Homeland Security
      • Labor & Union
      • Legal Issues
      • Natural Disasters
      • Not For Profit
      • Patent Law
      • Public Safety
      • Trade Policy
      • U.S. State Policy
      • View All Policy & Public Interest

  • People & Culture
      • People & Culture

      • Aboriginal, First Nations & Native American
      • African American
      • Asian American
      • Children
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
      • Hispanic
      • Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual
      • Men's Interest
      • People with Disabilities
      • Religion
      • Senior Citizens
      • Veterans
      • Women
      • View All People & Culture

  • Hamburger menu
  • Cision PRWeb provides efficient communication tools to continuously engage with target audiences across multiple online channels
  • Create a Free Account
    • ALL CONTACT INFO
    • Contact Us


      11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday

  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • News in Focus
    • Browse All News
    • Multimedia Gallery
  • Business & Money
    • Auto & Transportation
    • Business Technology
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Financial Services & Investing
    • General Business
  • Science & Tech
    • Consumer Technology
    • Energy & Natural Resources
    • Environ­ment
    • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
    • Telecomm­unications
  • Lifestyle & Health
    • Consumer Products & Retail
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Health
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Policy & Public Interest
  • People & Culture
    • People & Culture
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR

Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive spokesman remembers the Holocaust on 70th anniversary of liberation of Dachau death camp on April 29, 1945
  • USA - English


News provided by

Digital Clubhouse Network/Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive

Apr 29, 2015, 23:30 ET

Share this article

Share toX

Share this article

Share toX

Brig. Gen (ret.) James B. Thayer, Sr. with his son James, Jr. with 70th Anniversary Commemoration announcement
Brig. Gen (ret.) James B. Thayer, Sr. with his son James, Jr. with 70th Anniversary Commemoration announcement
Youtube
Youtube

Portland, OR (PRWEB) April 29, 2015 -- Retired Army Brigadier General James B. Thayer, Sr. stood in front of a Sherman tank this week to urge the public to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II this August.

Today is the 70th anniversary of the day American troops first came face to face with the horrors of the Holocaust.

Post this

"Today is the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Dachau on April 29, 1945, the day when American troops came face to face with the horrors of the Holocaust," said Thayer, 92. Thayer joined the U.S. Army in 1942, and earned the Silver and Bronze stars for his combat heroics, which included liberating more 15,000 Jewish prisoners of a Nazi death camp in Gunskirchen in north central Austria in early May 1945.

He said the experience left him with indelible memories.

"As we entered the camp, the living skeletons still able to walk crowded around us and, though we wanted to drive farther into the place, the milling, pressing crowd wouldn't let us," said Thayer. "Just the sight of an American brought cheers, groans and shrieks. People crowded around to touch an American, to kiss our arms -- perhaps just to make sure that it was true. The people who couldn't walk, crawled out toward our jeep. Those who couldn't even crawl propped themselves up on an elbow, and somehow, through all their pain and suffering, revealed through their eyes the gratitude, the joy they felt at the arrival of Americans."

When Thayer was on a tour of concentration camps organized by the U.S. Holocaust Council in 1992, he was approached by a man who was 14 when the Americans arrived at Gunskirchen. He told Thayer he would have been dead if they had come 24 hours later.

Gen.Thayer was Special Assistant to the Executive Director the Department of Defense for the WWII 50th Anniversary Commemoration, and is serving as an advisor to "Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive," a grassroots coalition of organizations that convinced the U.S. Congress to unanimously vote in 2010 in favor of an annual national "Spirit of '45 Day" that honors the men and women of the WWII generation, and is now promoting the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII this August (http://www.Spiritof45.org). Thayer is the honorary chair for Oregon Spirit of '45.

The WWII 70th Anniversary Commemorative Weekend will kick off with a mass "Kiss In" in Times Square at noon on Friday, August 14. Community events are being organized throughout the country that will include flyovers by WWII airplanes, swing dances and concerts, rallies of Rosie the Riveter lookalikes, and intergenerational activities hosted by senior living residences. The Weekend will conclude with an around the world Tribute on Sunday, August 16, when more than 1,000 buglers will perform "Taps" at wreath laying ceremonies at cemeteries, memorials and other locations in the Pacific, Europe and North Africa, and the United States.

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad is calling on his fellow governors to issue supporting proclamations in their states, and local elected officials are being asked to help support 70th Anniversary events and activities in their communities.

Oregon, which passed a state law in 2013 officially designating a "Spirit of '45 Day," to be observed every August, is planning multiple events to mark the 70th anniversary, including a series of concerts featuring the Oregon National Guard Band, and wreath laying ceremonies at national and state VA cemeteries, veterans memorials and other locations throughout the state.

A campaign is underway to raise $16 million to renovate a former Army training camp that will be dedicated to Gen.Thayer in recognition of his more than seven decades of military and civic service. Thayer's youngest son is the lead guitarist for the rock band Kiss, which recently raised more than $1 million in single event. The band's founder and famous frontman, Gene Simmons, is the son of a Holocaust survivor.

"I owe a debt of gratitude to Gen. Thayer," said Simmons. "Meeting him is a humbling experience."

"General Thayer is an inspiring example of the qualities that made the greatest generation great," said Barbara Jensen, who has been leading the Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive effort in Oregon, and has her own personal family connection to WWII: her English mother, Joy Beebe, and her father, a young U.S. Army private, were married 70 years ago on April 28, 1945.

"It's up to us Baby Boomers, and our children, to remember how our parents' generation literally saved civilization and helped ensure a better future for all mankind. That's what the 70th Anniversary is all about, keeping their Spirit alive!"

For more information, visit http://www.Spiritof45.org

Warren Hegg, Digital Clubhouse Network/Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive, http://www.Spiritof45.org, +1 408 857 5252, [email protected]

Modal title

Chancellor Heilman and daughter Terry.
Chancellor Heilman and daughter Terry.
Chancellor Heilman and daughter Terry.

Contact PRWeb

  • 11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday
  • Contact Us

About PRWeb

  • About PRWeb
  • Partners
  • Partnership Programs
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Resources

Why PRWeb

  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing

Accounts

  • Create a Free Account
  • Log in
  • Contact Us

Do not sell or share my personal information:

  • Submit via [email protected] 
  • Call Privacy toll-free: 877-297-8921

Contact Cision

Products

About

My Services
  • All News Releases
  • Online Member Center
  • ProfNet
Cision Distribution Helpline
888-776-0942
  • Legal
  • Site Map
  • RSS
  • Cookie Settings
Copyright © 2025 Cision US Inc.