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 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, April 29, the World War 2 Guys gathered for our annual Spring Training event. We held our event at historic Fort Atkinson which stood in for Alliance Army Air Base in far western Nebraska. The time period for the weekend was the spring of 1943 wearing HBT Coveralls with Jump Boots, M-1941 Field Jackets, and typical web gear. We had seven enthusiastic troopers in attendance making this one of our larger training events. Leading quite a bit of the training was our top-notch Sergeant Patzke, who did an excellent job keeping us educated, on schedule, and out of trouble. Some of the afternoon highlights were a uniform and equipment class led by Corporal Green, rifle drill and marching on the parade ground, and even a little recreational baseball time. For supper, Sarge cooked us up a delicious meal of beef stew with bread, tea, and apple pie for dessert. Following dining room clean-up, we did a spirited unit field march and practiced our hand signals and squad field formations. We even took out a pesky sniper hidden in the Powder Magazine! This was followed by a nighttime showing of the 1949 Van Johnson film "Battleground" right on the west wall of the fort. This was a really neat activity out under the starry sky, imagining what it must have been like in the Army long ago. Our overnight stay in the fort's barracks was fairly comfortable in our 1820's era bunks. In the morning there were donuts and coffee as well as some light unit calisthenics. As the weekend came to a close, we all realized that this was quite possibly the best training event we've ever done as a unit. We're already tossing around some ideas for 2024 and ways to make this event even better!

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 Saturday, February 26, the boys of H Company, 507th PIR kicked off our exciting 2022 season with a winter training event at the Loess Hills State Forest. This was the first of two training events leading up to our Operation Varsity event in May. In attendance were Privates Mason, Quinn, Patzke and Yurgil along with Pfc. Williams, Sgt. Hazard and SSgt. Krelle. The morning started with a vigorous field march up and down the picturesque hills of our training site. Sgt. Hazard led the way in an action that sets our unit apart from many others in the field. We then began some classroom training led by SSgt. Krelle who covered squad hand signals, squad structure, and movement in the field. The whole squad enjoyed a test run of new C-Rations created by Pvt. Patzke which tasted excellent and looked extremely authentic as well. Our unit now has a reliable source of period correct rations for future events. We then spent time as a squad moving in the field using various formations such as open and closed squad columns, skirmish lines, a wedge formation, and the diamond formation. As a final exercise, we assaulted a group of unsuspecting German armored vehicles using a base of fire and maneuver team with much success. We ended our day discussing our 2022 events schedule and plans for the year ahead. It was a great first event and a pleasure to see our group together in action once again! 

On Saturday, April 17 we held a small unit training event at Ft. Atkinson. In attendance were Conner, Mike, Matt, and the Sarge. The focus of this event was to do a deep dive through all of our uniform and equipment questions in advance of our May immersion event with F/502. We spent quite a bit of time talking through each element of the uniform and what the standards should be. We also then went through equipment, personal items, rations, and weapons with the same level of scrutiny. This was the first event where several unit members had their M42 Reinforced Jump Suits treated with a CC2 treatment replication be it either Otter Wax or Filson's Oil Finish Wax. The newly teated jump suits definitely looked a lot better than our old untreated look! We then spent some time going through hand signals, 1940s slang, and some field maneuver tactics which was helpful. We finished the day with some baseball catch and a few turns up at bat which is always really fun! It was a very educational and enjoyable day among friends!

On Saturday, April 20, a few of the World War 2 Guys hit the field for a little spring training. Jon, Fisk and Eric headed up to Ft. Atkinson for some morning fun. The uniform of the day was HBT Coveralls, Helmets, and Jump Boots replicating the look of the typical 507th trooper at Alliance Army Air Field in April 1943.  We started the day by giving Fisk a tour of the fort and it's buildings and attractions. We did some field marching and held a little unit meeting under a grand old tree.  We then covered unit hand signals and discussed upcoming events.  We finished the day back up on the parade ground throwing around the baseball a little. We didn't have enough guys to do much but it was still great to get outside and take in the beautiful spring weather.

The World War 2 Guys met up at Ft. Atkinson on Sunday, April 29 for our annual Spring Training and baseball game.  We had a lighter attendance for this event with Casey, Jon, Matt, and Eric taking part.  We started the morning with some much appreciated donuts and coffee supplied by Casey followed by some rifle drill and marching on the parade ground.  We held a short administrative meeting covering upcoming events and other important unit topics.  The four of us then geared-up and made our way down to the lower river plain for some patrol time.  Casey led us on a somewhat lengthy patrol through the trees and grasses on this beautiful sunny morning.  We stopped off for a breather and to shoot a few rounds through Staff Sergeant Krelle's new Thompson.  Then it was back to the parade ground for some good old fashioned baseball!  We knocked-off the rust by warming up our arms first with a few spirited games of catch.  Then it was home run derby time with each trooper taking several turns at bat.  Corporal Hazard had the longest shot of the day, but the true headline moment was when SSgt. Krelle actually hit the leather cover off a baseball!  Seems that he's a regular Roy Hobbs at the plate!  It was a really fun event which we will hold again next year for certain.

On Sunday, March 25, the World War 2 Guys held our first training day as our new B-29 Living History Crew.  Working in conjunction with the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum, we will be conducting living history displays with the museum's B-29 Superfortress "Lucky Lady" a few times each year.  Our first event with the public will be April 7 in celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the United States Air Force.  Our Sunday meeting topics included unit events, recruiting news, HRS news, a unit weapons update, and an indepth study of U.S. Army Air Force uniforms and equipment.  We ended the day's activities with a walk through the museum, spending some time with the B-29, the B-17 Flying Fortress, and the B-25 Mitchell.