On Saturday, April 4, the World War 2 Guys held our highly anticipated annual Spring Training Day at Ft. Atkinson State Historical Park. The weather for the day was far from springlike with ominous clouds, temperatures in the 30s, and a biting wind all day long. But as always, our group knows how to bundle up and manage the cold. This was our inaugural event representing L Company of Nebraska's own 134th Infantry Regiment. We were all very excited to once again don the "Wagon Wheel" patch of the 35th "Santa Fe" Infantry Division. Our day started with a study of an Infantry Regiment's squad structure and organization. On the parade ground, we then went through the School of the Soldier without Arms, and then the Manual of Arms for the Rifle. We then had a unit break where we discussed various unit topics while eating K-Rations and Bryson's birthday cupcakes! Our afternoon consisted of classes on the history and organization of the 134th Infantry and a uniforms and equipment overview with demonstrations by Pfc. Green. We ended the day with a spirited road march and simulated attacks on scores of ill-fated Germans. It was such a fun day for all of us and an honor to represent our local heroes of the 134th! As the regimental motto defiantly declares, "All Hell Can't Stop Us!"

On Saturday, March 28 the World War 2 Guys held our first field event of 2026 with an Operation Varsity road march. Representing the boys of H Company 507th PIR were Will, Bryson, Donnie, Davan, Rhys, and the Sarge dressed in our M43 Field Uniforms with Jump Boots and a good amount of late war OD7 web gear. Our objective for the day was a road march headed east toward the Rhine River, practicing our field maneuvering as well as hand signals all along the route. When we finally reached our destination, we nestled into a tree line to try to avoid the wind-blown dust and sand. We weren't able to get a fire going because of the high winds, but Donnie read us a letter from home which helped in boosting our unit morale. It was a beautiful day to be together working as a squad in the field once again. Next weekend we will hold our annual spring training day which is always a highly anticipated event!

On Saturday, March 14, the World War 2 Guys marched in the 148th Annual Omaha St. Patrick's Day Parade. The parade, which is organized by the Ancient Order of Hibernians, started a new chapter this year with an all new parade route. The new route begins on 16th & Capitol and finishes at 12th & Mike Fahey St. We were blessed with sunny skies and temperatures in the 40s which isn't bad for a March morning in Nebraska. This year we honored the brave paratroopers of the 17th Airborne Division and their epic jump as part of Operation Varsity. The March 24, 1945 jump involved more than 16,000 paratroopers and several thousand aircraft, making it the largest airborne operation ever conducted on a single day and in one location. After the parade we met at Brazen Head Irish Pub which is our traditional St. Patty's lunch favorite. In two weeks, we will be doing an Operation Varsity field event which will be an exciting continuation of our 17th Airborne studies. Stay tuned!

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 Tuesday, November 11, a few of us gathered to proudly honor our nation's Korean War veterans at Omaha's annual Veterans Day ceremony. Just east of the Korea/Vietnam Memorial, we set up a small row of shelter tents and displayed uniforms, equipment and weapons from the Korean War. Eric represented the U.S. Marine Corps, Cody represented the U.S. Army, and Bryson represented the U.S. Air Force. Featured speakers at the ceremony included Omaha Mayor John Ewing, Congressman Don Bacon, and Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen. We were happy to speak with several enthusiastic JROTC students from OPS high schools, as well as some Vietnam veterans and a very lively 94 year old Korean War veteran from the 45th Infantry Division. It was a beautiful November morning and an excellent opportunity to once again give recognition to those who gave everything to our nation in a frozen land far away.

On Sunday, October 26, the World War 2 Guys helped out at the 2nd Annual "Flight of Fright" event at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. In attendance we had Eric, Matt and Joe stationed at the B-29 Superfortress representing a Pacific Theater B-29 crew. Over at the C-47 Skytrain we had Donnie, Davan and Rhys representing the Jumping Spiders of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment. We had lots of trick or treaters throughout the afternoon event and quite a few history-related conversations with visitors. We always have a great experience at the museum which holds a very special place in our hearts. At a D-Day display event at the museum in June of 2018, Deqlan, Donnie and Davan visited our display as kids and now 7 years later, they are the ones wearing the same uniforms to honor our World War II veterans. It's a great story and I'm glad we are passing along our love and appreciation of our nation's military history to a new generation!

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.

The weekend of September 6-7 Fort Atkinson Living History hosted the 11th Annual Timeline Weekend. This is a spectacular event that brings together reenactors from the Lewis & Clark era all the way up through the early 21st century. This weekend featured Will portraying a rifleman from Merrill's Marauders, Cody representing A Company of the 6th Infantry in North Africa, Bryson representing the Belgian 3rd Parachute Battalion, Rhys and Donnie portraying U.S. Marines from the Vietnam War, Eric portraying a U.S. Air Force F-105 pilot from 1965, and Deqlan and Davan representing the desert warriors of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Our buddy, Steve Cox, was also with us throughout the weekend with his excellent Vietnam display. The weather this year was absolutely incredible with sunny skies and temps in the 60s and 70s all weekend. We were once again invited to the Saturday night reenactor dinner and followed it up with our traditional sunset hang out. It got cold overnight and a thick fog greeted us in the early morning hours. Saturday was pretty steady with fort visitors with Sunday's attendance being a little lighter than expected with such great weather. We are talking about doing a "Springtime" version of this event, so potentially look for us at the fort the first weekend of May 2026.

On Saturday, August 2 the World War 2 Guys attended our second annual Open House event at the Commemorative Air Force's Great Plains Wing hanger and museum. Unlike last year, it was a gorgeous, cool summer morning with low humidity and temperatures in the 70s, so everyone really enjoyed being outdoors. We were served up stacks of golden pancakes with sausages, orange juice and coffee by the famous Pancake Man. Donnie caught an impressive 5 out of 6 pancakes that were flung on his plate. We had several tables set-up as a display focused on the B-29 Superfortress crews of the Pacific Theater in World War II. I designed two boards that outlined the unique responsibilities of each member of a B-29 crew. We also had a new promotional board for the World War 2 Guys to explain a little bit about who we are and what we do. There was a lot of great interaction with the public and as always we had a really fun time spending the morning together as a team. Next month we will be back in action at the Ft. Atkinson Timeline Weekend so come on out and see all of our amazing impressions!

On Friday, July 4, the World War 2 Guys were a part of our 10th annual Field Club 4th of July Parade. It was a beautiful morning for a parade with sunny skies and a nice light breeze. This year we honored and remembered the U.S. Marine Corps and their bloody 3 months of combat on Okinawa, the final great battle of World War II. 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the conclusion of World War II so our mission to celebrate its warriors is stronger than ever.  We always enjoy getting together for community events like this and keeping the memories of the Greatest Generation alive and well in our younger generations.