World War 2 Guys
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • What's New
    • About Us
    • Unit Roster
  • BLOG
  • 507th
    • 507th History
    • 507th Timeline
    • 507th Insignia
    • 507th Tributes
    • 507th Trooper Gallery
  • EVENTS
    • 2023
    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
  • GEAR UP
    • Uniforms
    • Equipment
    • Weapons
  • PHOTOS
    • Historical Photos
    • Unit Photos >
      • 2004 – 2009
      • 2010 – 2014
      • 2015 – 2016
    • Uniform of the Month
  • LINKS
  • CONTACT
    • Contact Us
    • Recruiting

The Battle of Guam

8/2/2014

0 Comments

 
The World War 2 Guys hit the field on Saturday night, August 2 to recreate the Battle of Guam just south of Ft. Calhoun, Nebraska.  Our band of four Marines were Casey, Will, Matt and myself.  We had been doing research on the Guam campaign and the 3rd Marine Division for a few weeks prior to our event.  I was pretty impressed with our overall impressions considering that it was everyone's first Marine Corps reenactment.  We met up around 1900 hours and were out in the field within the hour.  We circled around the perimeter of a large open field and then made our way into the jungle.  Will and I selected a nice flat piece of ground surrounded by trees to set up an observation post while Matt and Casey selected another little ridgeline for a second post.  Everyone  worked quickly to get foxholes dug in before nightfall.  However, as is pretty much standard routine, Will's stomach took priority over digging and he got a small fire going to heat up some rations.  Now we are well aware that Marines on Guam probably didn't start cooking fires for fear of being shot at by the Japanese.  So we made a few concessions to comfort during the course of the evening.  The four of us headed back out on patrol around 2300 hours seeking out Japanese positions to the north.  After a quick break we made our way back to our observation posts by 2400 hours...

And that's exactly when the night's activities took a rather unexpected turn.  A severe thunderstorm with heavy lightning rapidly blew into eastern Nebraska along with the potential for flash flooding.  The four of us hunkered down in our muddy foxholes and spent the next two hours experiencing a true taste of what every Marine in the Pacific endured.  Torrential rains with heavy thunder and lighting pounded our little patch of woods mercilessly.  It was quite honestly the most realistic two hours I have ever spent at a reenactment in my 14 years in the hobby.  No squad of enemy reenactors or blank rifle fire can ever match the raw power and electricity of nature's mighty dominance over man.  It was during this time that several of us realized that next to the M1 Rifle, the Camouflaged Poncho is the most valuable piece of equipment a Marine can carry.  We watched as the water level in the bottom of our foxholes gradually rose.  It also became near impossible to climb the hills up out of the woods we were situated in.  So after two hours of heavy storms and, um, a wife's uncompromising text massages, the four of us begrudgingly marched back to our base camp and headed home.  I was extremely disappointed that we were unable to finish our planned overnight event.  I am even more upset that I didn't get to take as many photos of our individual uniforms as I had planned.  Typically it's the photos taken the following morning that truly show how successful the reenactment was.  So we will have to find another Pacific island to assault sometime next year in order to live out all of our Marine dreams.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    WELCOME

    Read all about the great events that the World War 2 Guys take part in throughout the year.

    CATEGORIES

    All
    101st Airborne
    134th Infantry
    173rd Airborne Brigade
    17th Airborne Division
    2nd Division
    507th PIR
    82nd Airborne
    Airborne
    Battle Of The Bulge
    Commonwealth
    D Day
    Desert Storm
    Hardcore
    Home Front
    Italian Front
    Iwo Jima
    Korean War
    Live Fire
    Marine Corps
    Memorials
    Museums
    Nebraska
    Omaha
    Operation Varsity
    Parades
    Public Displays
    Reenactment
    Training
    US Army Air Force
    Veterans
    Vietnam

    ARCHIVES

    October 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • What's New
    • About Us
    • Unit Roster
  • BLOG
  • 507th
    • 507th History
    • 507th Timeline
    • 507th Insignia
    • 507th Tributes
    • 507th Trooper Gallery
  • EVENTS
    • 2023
    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
  • GEAR UP
    • Uniforms
    • Equipment
    • Weapons
  • PHOTOS
    • Historical Photos
    • Unit Photos >
      • 2004 – 2009
      • 2010 – 2014
      • 2015 – 2016
    • Uniform of the Month
  • LINKS
  • CONTACT
    • Contact Us
    • Recruiting