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 Sunday, October 27, the World War 2 Guys got to take part in our first ever "Flight of Fright" event at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. The fun feature of this family trick or treating experience was that volunteers like our group would get to throw candy from inside the museum's aircraft collection. So with our mission established, and bags of candy in hand, we manned our aircraft. Rhys was dressed as an Airborne trooper dropping candy from the C-47 Skytrain. Matt and Cody were assigned to the B-17 Flying Fortress. Eric and Bryson were stationed in the B-29 Super Fortress, Lucky Lady. And Jeff made it out for the day, roaming the museum hangers as an Army M.P. The only big SNAFU of the day was that there were WAY more trick or treaters than the museum was expecting!!! We ran out of our first large bags of candy within the first hour. So a resupply mission brought back additional bombloads of candy for the guys inside the planes. It was an awesome afternoon event and drew enormous crowds to the museum which was great to see. Our group's favorite aspect was just getting to spend some quality time in these legendary aircraft of World War II.

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.

On Saturday, August 3, the World War 2 Guys attended our first ever Commemorative Air Force Open House at the Council Bluffs Airport. In attendance were Matt, Joe and Bryson doing a great job displaying some WWII U.S. Army Air Force uniform and equipment items. The Pancake Man was there too flipping pancakes for a fun breakfast experience.

On Tuesday, July 4, the World War 2 Guys were back in action at our favorite Independence Day Parade in the historic Field Club Neighborhood. Our unit impression was open this year so in attendance we had Joe as a 2nd Armored Division infantryman, Jacob as a 101st Airborne paratrooper, Eric as a B-29 Superfortress pilot in the Pacific, and Will as a street sweepin' US Army soldier in his denim work fatigues. The weather was perfect for the 4th of July and we had a great time being together as always!

On Sunday, June 4, the World War 2 Guys were happy to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Omaha's Memorial Park dedication. On hand for the day were Will representing a Bombardier of the 20th Air Force, Eric was a U.S. Marine on Iwo Jima, Deqlan was a 507th trooper from Alliance Army Air Base, Jacob was a 101st Airborne trooper in Normandy, and Joe was a 101st trooper in the Vietnam War. We had our WWII Small Wall Tent, a WWII Shelter Tent, and a Vietnam War poncho hooch all set up for our display layouts. We had lots of visitors throughout the day and some thunder and heavy rain as well. It was a fun chance to interact with the public in one of Omaha's greatest settings.

On Saturday, October 22, Matt, Eric and Cody headed up to Ft. Atkinson for an early morning photo shoot focused on our growing U.S. Army Air Force impressions. We got some fantastic lighting from a beautiful sunrise and were happy about the cooler temperatures which is favorable when wearing layers of wool and leather jackets. Matt and Eric started the morning with their B-17 bomber impressions with Matt as a pilot and Eric as a navigator. Cody is building an excellent crew chief impression so it was fun to have him join in the fun!  Later on, we went up the the Sutler cabin at the fort and took some photos of Matt in his later war uniform consisting of a B-10 Jacket with A-10 Trousers. Eric introduced his P-47 fighter pilot uniform complete with 1936 RAF Flying Boots and a RAF Life Preserver. It was a quick little photo shoot but we all had a great time with our imaginations in the clouds.

On the weekend of September 3-4, the World War 2 Guys were back in action for one of our favorite events of the year. The 8th Annual Timeline Weekend at Fort Atkinson has become one of the best events we do to display a huge variety of time periods and impression. Joe, Will, and Jeff were at the fort on Saturday displaying lots of great pieces from the Civil War up through Vietnam. The fort once again hosted a much-appreciated picnic dinner Saturday night for all of the reenactors which is always a great time. Then later Saturday evening, several of us sat and talked over drinks and music out in front of our unit's new U.S. Small Wall Tent. It was a really fun night and it felt so great to be among so many friends. Sunday morning there was hot coffee and donuts provided by Eric and Matt who were portraying two B-24 bomber crewmen from the 93rd Bomb Group. There were a lot of visitors throughout the weekend and the weather was exceptionally nice for this time of year in Nebraska. We are already eagerly awaiting our return to this event next year!

On Saturday, September 5, the World War 2 Guys took part in our 6th annual Ft. Atkinson Timeline Day. This year we had Matt portraying an airman of the 10th Air Force, Nate portraying a WWII US Marine, Jeff portraying a US Army infantryman, Cody portraying a member of No. 3 Commando, and Eric portraying a Green Beret from the 5th Special Forces Group. The morning weather was really nice and we had quite a few visitors to our display. But by the afternoon temps got pretty toasty and it was a little uncomfortable. Nevertheless, it was a great day to get out and interact with the public during a year when we haven't had as many chances.