On Saturday, July 22, the World War 2 Guys ventured to the picturesque hills of Italy for our first ever Mediterranean Theater of Operations event.  Eric and Cody were representing a World War II Iowa National Guard unit, the 168th Infantry Regiment, which was a part of the 34th "Red Bull" Division.  Jon was representing the fighting men of the 3rd Infantry Division along with Reed and Jacob, two new friends of ours from Kansas.  The event was co-hosted by our good friend, Eli Morgan, and the turnout was excellent! There were 20 reenactors from all over the Midwest with 11 Germans and 9 Allied soldiers.  But even with the awesome participation, the weather turned out to be the story of the day.  Temperatures climbed quickly in the morning which teamed up with exceptionally high humidity to make the day very uncomfortable.  With most of the reenactors wearing wool uniforms along with their helmets, gear and rifles, it made patrolling through the hills and woods of the WMA site pretty awful.  We did get into some good fire fights but we were just no match for the exhaustion that comes along with the high temps and humidity.  We called it a day rather early but had a great time meeting lots of new friends in our hobby!  Italy, we'll be back someday!!!

The World War 2 Guys took part in our 2nd Annual Field Club Neighborhood Parade on Tuesday, July 4.  Once again we celebrated Independence Day by portraying the men of the 507th PIR in our D-Day uniforms.  This year our parade crew was comprised of Eric, Will, Cody and Jon.  The morning temperatures weren't terrible but the humidity was really high so the M42 Jumpsuits loaded down with gear got a little uncomfortable.  But it was a great parade with a lot of neighborhood enthusiasm and a good time was had by all!