On Saturday, February 7, the World War 2 Guys kicked off the 2026 season with our annual Winter Muster at Omaha's Union Station, now home of the Durham Museum. This is a fun event every year as we dress up in Class A uniforms of various World War II units. In attendance this time were Will representing the 23rd Infantry of the 2nd Infantry Division, Eric representing the 355th Infantry of the 89th Infantry Division, Donnie representing the 134th Infantry of the 35th Infantry Division, Davan representing the 507th PIR of the 17th Airborne Division, and Rhys representing the 502nd PIR of the 101st Airborne Division. We held our annual meeting in the "Cornhusker Club" train car and spent some time walking around the museum. On the way to lunch, I drove right past the old Federal Building on 15th & Dodge St. which served as the headquarters of the 89th Infantry Division and the 355th Infantry Regiment from 1934 up until their mobilization in 1942. Our lunch at the Brazenhead was excellent as always and we were joined by Matt wearing an awesome B-10 Jacket with a 701st Bomb Squadron leather patch. We are looking forward to an exciting year ahead in 2026 and will next be in action at Omaha's St. Patrick's Day Parade on March 14.

On Friday, October 3, the World War 2 Guys were back in action at Omaha's Baxter Arena for Military Appreciation Night at the UNO vs. Air Force hockey game. We set up a pretty easy table display featuring items from the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Army Air Force in World War II. Davan was representing the 82nd Airborne Division, Deqlan the 1st Infantry Division, Bryson the 35th Infantry Division, Donnie the 5th Marine Division, Will the 8th Air Force, and Eric the 20th Air Force. It was a nice quick display event and we got to talk with a lot of families and kids interested in WWII. Afterwards our whole group went to Brazen Head for a nice group dinner to unwind. It sounds like this will be an annual event going forward, so hopefully we'll be back next year for more.

On Saturday, February 17, a small group of us honored the anniversary of Nebraska's own 134th Infantry Regiment entering Germany in late February 1945. Joe and I layered up in long johns, wools, sweaters, gloves, and field jackets to tackle the frigid temperatures in the Loess Hills of western Iowa. Our journey took us up and down snow covered hillsides, and in and out of tangled wood lines in search of the elusive enemy. We finally did make contact with a German patrol and reported our findings back to L Company headquarters. It was a quick outing but a great way to spend a day, out in nature among fellow history lovers!

The highlight of my Memorial Day was finding and cleaning the gravesite of Lt. Col. Alfred Thomsen of Omaha. He was the 3rd Battalion commander of the 134th Infantry Regiment, a Nebraska National Guard unit that made the Cornhusker state proud during World War II. The 134th took Hill 122 on July 15 and was "officially" the first unit to enter St. Lo. Thomsen was wounded by German artillery on July 30 and died a few weeks later when a blog clot reached his brain. The Big Colonel or "Tommy" as he was known was a larger than life personality and a legend in Nebraska's military ranks. He's buried in Westlawn-Hillcrest cemetery, and surprisingly he's only 50 yards or so away from my parents' burial site! His marker is right at base of an ancient tree and near the Westlawn Singing Tower which has watched over him for many, many years. I read aloud excerpts from 'Biography of a Battalion' and some of author James A. Huston's recollections of his friend and the leader of so many Nebraska boys. Lt. Col. Thomsen has been a hero of mine for over 20 years now when I first started learning actual WWII stories from WWII veterans, so it was nice to finally slow down, sit with him, and share some French Calvados at long last.

On Independence Day, the World War 2 Guys were invited to take part in the Grand Opening of the new 4-D interactive "From Cornrow to Hedgerow" exhibit at the Nebraska National Guard Museum in Seward. In attendance were Eric, Will, and Cody all representing the brave men of Nebraska's own 134th Infantry Regiment. Throughout the day we were situated in and around the museum's new Normandy hedgerow exhibit which features authentically uniformed mannequins in poses depicted in the National Guard Heritage Series painting done by Keith Rocco. We met and spoke with Ted Neill, the author of "Finding St.Lo" which is a biography of Gordon Cross and Bob Fowler.  Bob was a longtime friend of our unit and remains one of the inspirations for why we honor our nations World War II veterans year after year.  There were some excellent Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill impresonators at the museum for the big celebration and hundreds and hundreds of visitors through the doors all day long. It was an excellent way to spend the 4th honoring some of our state's most courageous men.