About that same time, invasion headquarters in Europe broadcasts the first orders for the underground movement when the invasion begins. There is a war on and an invasion imminent, but the newspapers aren't above cheesecake - as in a picture of the queen of the annual Roanoke College swimming carnival. On June 5, the Allies are in Rome and the next morning, Secretary of Way Henry Stimson, like other Americans, hears on the radio that an Allied communique has announced the invasion of Europe. Most Virginians would hear it a trifle later than the secretary, however. While there was hope, there wasn't a great confidence that it was going to be successful.
People are all at church.
Jefferson High School cancels its prom and there is a full-page newspaper ad pushing bond sales. Blood spurts from the book. Bond sales pick up. On D-Day, Virginians listen to the discordant bong of the cracked Liberty Bell, funneled to the country on a nationwide radio hookup. It may be Omaha Beach, where the 29th came ashore.