PRESS RELEASE
Join Naval Air Station (NAS) Wildwood Aviation Museum for the free opening of The Longest Yarn traveling D-Day exhibit on Monday, April 14 from 10am-4pm at Cape May Airport in Rio Grande, New Jersey. 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. The Longest Yarn will make its national debut at the NAS Wildwood and continue to be displayed from April to Labor Day 2025. It will serve as the pride of Cape May County as the event offers visitors a unique blend of art and history. Regular museum admission will be required after the free opening.
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. 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. 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.
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.
