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 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 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.

On Monday, May 26 the World War 2 Guys were a part of a very special event at Omaha's Memorial Park to celebrate and honor our nation's fallen heroes. The event was organized and hosted by Bill Williams and Patriotic Productions and it was outstanding! Event goers were served up free pancakes and sausages by Congressman Don Bacon and Senator Pete Ricketts. The American flag was flown in by a parachute demonstration team. The highlight of the event was a ceremony to recognize local servicemen and women throughout the decades who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for America. Members of our group dressed in period correct uniforms to portray famous Omahans or individuals associated with Nebraska. For World War I, Will portrayed 1st Lt. Jarvis Offutt and Heather Hill portrayed nurse Marion Crandell. For World War II, Cody portrayed Flight Officer Martin P. Schmitt, Jr. and Matt portrayed Lt. Col. Alfred Thomsen. For the Korean War, Deqlan portrayed Pfc. Charles Vorel, Jr. and Bryson portrayed Pfc. Edward "Babe" Gomez. For the Vietnam War, Eric portrayed Major Michael Bosiljevac and Rhys portrayed Pfc. Stephen Cole. And for the War on Terror, Davan portrayed Cpl. Matthew Henderson. It was a very moving ceremony with each of us reading aloud a brief biography of each hero. We very much hope to be involved with more ceremonies like this in the coming years. Later in the day, I visited the graves of two of our honorees, Lt. Col. Thomsen and Major Bosiljevac.

On Saturday, March 8, the World War 2 Guys were participants in the 147th Annual Omaha St. Patrick's Day Parade. The parade is organized by the Ancient Order of Hibernians and has been an Omaha tradition for generations. This year, to honor the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima, our group once again raised the colors as the Marines of Easy Company, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division. We had Rhys as Cpl. Harlon Block, Deqlan as Cpl. Harold "Pie" Keller, Donnie as Pfc. Franklin Sousley, Don as Sgt. Mike Strank, Will as Pfc. Harold Henry Schultz, Bryson as Cpl. Ira Hayes, and Eric as Lt. Harold George Schrier. This year we were positioned at the front of the parade right behind the official U.S. Marine Corps color guard. The crowd support was excellent as always and the full sun, light winds, and temps in the 40s made for a beautiful morning! Afterwards we journeyed back to our favorite post-parade lunch spot at Brazen Head Irish Pub for a Guiness and some great Irish fare.

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 Sunday, October 22, some of the World War 2 Guys got together for a little afternoon photo shoot at Ft. Atkinson State Historical Park. The idea for the day was to come in any uniform, from any time period, and just take some great photos and have fun. Joe came as a soldier of the famed "Berlin Brigade" from the mid-1960's sporting the impressive M-14 Rifle. Eric was portraying a Sergeant First Class from the 10th Special Forces Group at Bad Tölz, Germany in 1956. Cody was a U.S. Navy Corpsman with the 1st Marine Division on Peleliu in the fall of 1944. And both Deqlan and Jacob were portraying riflemen with the 101st Airborne Division in Normandy. It was a great day to be outdoors with lots of gorgeous fall colors on the fort grounds. As storm was rolling in on us toward the end of the day, so we headed home to beat the rain.

The weekend of September 2-3 was the much anticipated 9th Annual Timeline Weekend at Ft. Atkinson State Historical Park. After enjoying a few weeks of pleasant late August weather, we were finally hit with some more extreme temps throughout the weekend which might have impacted crowd attendance. Joe was once again sporting his top notch 5th Special Forces Group impression and hooch display. Steve Cox was representing the U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War once again with his extensive display layout. Jeff was out on Saturday in a World War II infantryman kit. And Eric represented the U.S. Navy pilots of Task Force 77 in the Korean War. We all enjoyed a great picnic dinner for the participating reenactors on Saturday night, which was followed by a fun night of hanging out until after sunset. Sunday warmed-up quickly and visitors to the park were sadly pretty sparse. We headed out a bit earlier than expected, but it was great to be back at the fort and rekindle a lot of great friendships with fellow living historians.

A special event was held at Omaha's Memorial Park on Saturday, July 29 to remember and honor the 70th Anniversary of the Korean War Armistice. The event was planned and organized by Bill Williams and Patriotic Productions which has put on some amazing events to honor our Nebraska war veterans throughout the years, most notably several big Honor Flights for our World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War veterans. This event was actually held on the exact anniversary of the end of the Korean War on July 29, 1953. Patriotic Productions brought in a half sizes replica of the Korean War Memorial which is a traveling exhibit that goes around the country. Our small part of this special event was to set-up a camp area with tents and equipment displays right along Dodge Street. Will represented the US Army with an excellent gear layout with a shelter tent. Joe represented the United States Marine Corps with a camo Marine shelter tent and gear layout. And Eric represented the US Navy with a small Task Force 77 carrier pilot display. The public along with dozens of Korean War veterans enjoyed seeing our display and sharing their stories with us. This was truly a once in a lifetime event and one that we were particularly honored to be a part of.