On Saturday, November 9, the World War 2 Guys were back in the field for a squad patrol through the dreaded Hurtgen Forest. Our Squad Leader for the day was Sergeant Krelle with Matt serving as Assistant Squad Leader.  Bryson was on the Browning Automatic Rifle with Deqlan as his Assistant B.A.R. gunner. Donnie, Davan, and Rhys filled out the squad as riflemen with their M1s. As we continued with our "year in the life" honoring the "Big Red One", we were portraying L Company of the 16th Infantry Regiment, a storied company of the 1st Infantry Division. The 16th Infantry was tasked with some hard fighting in the Hurtgen Forest in mid-November 1944 to take Hill 232 near the town of Hamich. We spent some of our time during the day reading aloud the experiences of the 16th in their bloody struggle against the German defenders. We dug a line of four squad foxholes along a hillside to defend against any German counterattacks that may come our way. We also marched up to the top of our trench outpost to get a better view of the terrain. It was a great fall day to be outdoors and always a pleasure to spend time together as a group.

On Sunday, October 27, the World War 2 Guys got to take part in our first ever "Flight of Fright" event at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. The fun feature of this family trick or treating experience was that volunteers like our group would get to throw candy from inside the museum's aircraft collection. So with our mission established, and bags of candy in hand, we manned our aircraft. Rhys was dressed as an Airborne trooper dropping candy from the C-47 Skytrain. Matt and Cody were assigned to the B-17 Flying Fortress. Eric and Bryson were stationed in the B-29 Super Fortress, Lucky Lady. And Jeff made it out for the day, roaming the museum hangers as an Army M.P. The only big SNAFU of the day was that there were WAY more trick or treaters than the museum was expecting!!! We ran out of our first large bags of candy within the first hour. So a resupply mission brought back additional bombloads of candy for the guys inside the planes. It was an awesome afternoon event and drew enormous crowds to the museum which was great to see. Our group's favorite aspect was just getting to spend some quality time in these legendary aircraft of World War II.

On Saturday, October 12, the World War 2 Guys took advantage of the beautiful fall weather and held our annual photo shoot day. In attendance this year were five member representing various historical impressions. Matt was honoring Captain Charles T. Schoolfield of the 369th Bomb Squadron, 306th Bomb Group who flew on the 2nd Schweinfurt mission on October 14, 1943 when he earned a Distinguished Flying Cross. Eric was portraying a fighter pilot of the 61st Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group in the fall of 1944. This is the squadron that Major Francis "Gabby" Gabreski flew with in WWII when he became the top scoring USAAF ace in the European Theatre. Will and Rhys were both portraying infantrymen of the 16th Infantry Regiment in "The Big Red One" in 1944. And Bryson sported the uniform and equipment of a Belgian infantryman of the late 1950's and early 1960's with some pretty awesome weapons, a FN FAL, a Vigneron M2 submachine gun, and the venerable Browning Hi Power. It was a really fun afternoon and a great time among friends.

On Saturday, August 31 and Sunday, September 1, the World War 2 Guys were back in action at Fort Atkinson's 10th Annual Timeline Weekend. This year we had Will as an early WWII infantryman with the 2nd Infantry Division, Bryson as a paratrooper of the German Luftwaffe, Rhys as a U.S. Marine, Eric as a member of the 5th Marine Division on Iwo Jima, and Joe as a medical specialist early in the Vietnam War. Our good friend, Steve Cox, displayed his Vietnam War USMC weapons and equipment all weekend, and Matt joined us for a while on Sunday as a US Army Air Force aviator. We had some fabulous weather this year with sunny skies both days and high temps only into the low 80s. Eric spoke both days in the fort's Visitor Center about his research on the Iwo Jima flag raisers. There was the traditional reenactor dinner Saturday night with pulled buffalo sandwiches and other goodies. There were great crowds both days with lots of positive public interaction and conversations. It was just an all around terrific weekend and one that we truly cherish being a part of every year.

On Saturday, August 3, the World War 2 Guys attended our first ever Commemorative Air Force Open House at the Council Bluffs Airport. In attendance were Matt, Joe and Bryson doing a great job displaying some WWII U.S. Army Air Force uniform and equipment items. The Pancake Man was there too flipping pancakes for a fun breakfast experience.

On Saturday, July 20, the World War 2 Guys jumped forward in time to the year 1967. Our objective for the day was to loosely live a "day in the life" of the 1986 Oliver Stone movie, Platoon. Our squad for the day was comprised of SSgt. Barnes, Sgt. Elias, Taylor, Bunny, Rhah, Lerner, and Crawford. Our guys had been preparing for this for a few months, but it was the first Vietnam event for all of us so there were several little details that we can improve upon for future events. For our location, we chose our favorite site in the beautiful Loess Hills of western Iowa. We spent quite a bit of time clearing out and improving our hilltop outpost which we called Firebase Lightning. After a lunch of C Rations, we did a lengthy Search & Destroy patrol in the afternoon and just had a great time hanging out as a group. After our time in the hills, all seven of us ventured to the Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Memorial where we took some really great group photos which we'll post later. It was such a fun day that we're already planning on doing a follow-up event next year.

On Thursday, July 4, the World War 2 Guys were back in action at our favorite 4th of July tradition. We once again met up at the historic Field Club neighborhood of Omaha for their annual Independence Day Parade. This year, in honor of the 80th Anniversary of D-Day and Operation Overlord, we chose to represent the brave infantrymen of the 1st Infantry Division, known since World War I as "The Big Red One"! So we donned our Assault Gas Mask Bags, Gas Brassards, M-1926 Life Belts, and plastic rifle bags along with our wool uniforms and M41 Field Jackets. The weather was cooler than in years past so were comforted with a little relief from Mother Nature. It was another great turnout and our group earned 2nd Place in the Historical category. We were interviewed by John Chapman of WOWT Channel 6 News and were featured in a great little feature story. It was a great time for all of us and we hope to be back again next year!

On Thursday, June 6, the World War 2 Guys were honored to be involved with a ceremony to mark and remember the 80th Anniversary of D-Day. The event was quickly put together by Bill Williams of Patriotic Productions the week before the anniversary. Former Omaha mayor, Hal Daub, served as the MC of the early morning event. Four paratroopers jumped on Memorial Park which is always an awe-inspiring experience. World War 2 Guys unit commander, Eric Krelle, served as the keynote speaker and delivered a heart-felt speech about the ways in which D-Day has intersected with his life over the past four decades. It was a beautiful morning and all of us felt very happy to be able to remember the men who jumped from the skies and stormed the beaches 80 years ago on this date.

After we finished up with the 80th Anniversary of D-Day, several of the World War 2 Guys raced over to the dedication ceremony for the new Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This was an event over two years in the making and well worth the wait. The ceremony was hosted by Rob McCartney of KETV and 11 different speakers shared their comments including Nebraska Governor, Jim Pillen and former U.S. Defense Secretary, Chuck Hagel. After the formal ceremony, everyone made their way up to the memorial on the top of the hill west of Sumtur Amphitheater. What a sight to behold!  The new memorial is breathtaking and extremely impressive! The main attraction is an authentic Bell UH-1 "Huey" Helicopter that served in the Vietnam War complete with a life-like bronze crew sculpted by a talented local artist, Troy Muller.  On the ground below the helicopter is a statue grouping of two soldiers carrying their wounded buddy to the safety of the incoming chopper. Joe and Eric served as military consultants for this project and are two of the models used to create this exceptional piece of artwork. But the highlight of the day was spending time talking with several Vietnam veterans and a few spouses as well. It was so special to connect with some of these men and hear a few of their stories and experiences during the war. June 6 was a once in a lifetime day for our group and we were so happy to be a part of it.

On Saturday, May 25, the World War 2 Guys were back in action for the 4th Annual Patriotic Productions Memorial Weekend Parade. The weather was glorious this year with full sunshine and perfect temps throughout the morning! In preparation for the parade this year, all of our members put forth a lot of extra effort working on our impressions and our historical authenticity. Four of our guys represented the infantrymen of the 1st Infantry Division "The Big Red One" who landed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. The other four guys represented the paratroopers of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment who dropped behind enemy lines into Normandy on June 5, 1944. This was our largest ever group turnout for a parade and everyone looked top notch! Everyone in our group has an amazing passion for keeping alive the memories of our World War II generation and the incredible sacrifices that they made on our nation's behalf.