On Sunday, April 27, the boys of 1st Squad, 2nd Platoon of H Company 507th PIR were back in action. This was our 10th annual 507th unit training event held at historic Fort Atkinson State Historical Park. We had a great turnout from the unit and lucked out on some great training weather with comfortable temperatures and overcast skies without any rain. Our training was primarily led by Sgt. Krelle and Cpl. Williams with additional instruction provided by Tech 4 Hazard, Pfc. Green, and Pvt. Popelier. We covered the WWII School of the Soldier with and without arms, hand signals, combat formations, a unit update meeting, 507th PIR organization, a uniforms and equipment review, and finished with a squad road march. It was an excellent training event and spirits were high among the squad members. We're very excited for our upcoming D-Day event in June where we will immerse ourselves in the lore of "Times Orchard".

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.