On Monday, May 25, the World War 2 Guys took part in the second annual Memorial Day ceremony hosted by Bill Williams and Patriotic Productions. Once again, the members of our group proudly portrayed a group of local heroes from Omaha and the surrounding heartland who died in the service of our nation. Portrayals from our group included Donnie as Private William Orr who was killed in the Philippine Insurrection in 1899, Rhys as Corporal Russell Hughes who was killed in France in 1918, Cody as Private First Class Anthony Mancuso who was killed in Italy in 1945, Matt as Captain Gordon Shotwell who was killed in Germany in 1945, Don as Private First Class Norman Rosenblatt who was killed in Korea in 1950, Eric as Lieutenant William Roark who was shot down over North Vietnam in 1965, and a representative as Sergeant Lonnie "Calvin" Allen, Jr. who was killed in Iraq in 2006. We marched in to the presentation portion of the program in a new features called "The Walk" which was visually pretty impressive. And of course we all loaded up on pancakes and coffee which is a big draw for this event. We can't thank Bill enough for his inclusion of our group in such an important ceremony to remember all of our fallen on this very special day.

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, March 11, the World War 2 Guys kicked off their 2023 season at the 144th Annual Omaha St. Patrick's Day Parade organized by the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Our line-up for the day included Jerrimy, Will, Eric, Matt, Cody, and Jacob who was joining us for the first time. The story of the day was the weather which was typically nasty for March in Nebraska. Temps were hovering in the low 30s with continuous rain for the whole parade. Thanks to Uncle Sam, our M1943 uniforms incorporating the layering principle kept us pretty warm, however our toes and fingers still got a little numb. Our uniform for the day was focused on the 17th Airborne Division at Operation Varsity in late March 1945. Two of the notable features of this uniform are the American Flag worn on the right sleeve and the Parachute First Aid Packet tied to the front of the helmet net. The parade itself was quick and enjoyable with hundreds of enthusiastic spectators braving the cold, wet morning to support a favorite Omaha tradition. Afterwards our group tried to get into the Dubliner for a pint, but they were overcrowded so we had to find another venue. So the boys from H Company headed west and snuggled into a nice Party Room table at The Brazenhead. With Guinness all around, some Reubens, and some cold Bangers and Mash our squad spent an enjoyable lunch hour together talkin' Army stuff and events to come.

On Saturday, April 9, the boys of H Company gathered for our annual Spring Training event at Fort Atkinson. In attendance were Eric, Will, Matt, Mike, Joe, and Jerrimy. The day started off with rifle drill and some basic marching on the parade ground. Jerrimy did an excellent job guiding us through this phase of our training!  Next up was some familiarization time with the 17th Airborne uniform, equipment, and weapons used in Operation Varsity. That was followed by everyone's favorite time of day - chow time!  Jerrimy showed off his new 5 in 1 Rations project that he's diligently been working on. Everyone was impressed with the quality and attention to detail that he's been putting into his WWII rations research. We did some refresher course work on our hand signals and field formations work from last month followed by a little field march. We got some great photos of a few troopers doing a mock house clearing which was fun. The day ended with some good old fashioned baseball time with a few of the guys getting some nice hits. Hazard's head almost got taken off by a line drive but he survived!  It was a great day and another top notch event for the World War 2 Guys!

On Sunday, March 22, Casey, Will, Matt and Eric along with photographers Bob and Dan headed out to Camp Sill for a photo shoot honoring the 70th Anniversary of the Operation Varsity jump.  The four of us did our best at recreating the uniforms of the 17th Airborne Division for this event spending weeks trying to get everything as accurate as possible.  Some unique features of this uniform are the M43 uniform, the American flag patches on the right sleeve, typically the Parachutist's First Aid Pouch attached to the helmet, and a mix of both early khaki and later OD#7 field gear.  Temperatures were rather warm for a March day in Nebraska, but we all enjoyed being together and spending some time in the field.