The weekend of September 5-6, members of the World War 2 Guys attended our 12th annual Timeline Weekend at Fort Atkinson State Historical Park. Eric has attended this event every September since its inception in 2015. This year we had Donnie with the 1st Nebraska Volunteer Infantry in the Philippine Insurrection, Davan as a member of the 82nd Airborne in Panama, Dom as an Iraq War Infantryman, Eric as an A-4 Skyhawk pilot with Attack Squadron 164 aboard the USS Oriskany, Joe as a Medical Sergeant with the 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam, and Rhys as an U.S. Army Infantryman in Berlin in 1961. Fellow reenactors who we also worked closely with were Steve Cox representing the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II and Andrew Gaghagen who portrayed a Spanish American War soldier. Saturday was terribly hot and humid which made the afternoon hours difficult to get through, but we made it. The reenactor supper was a great time as always, followed by some really fun sunset time among friends. Sunday was more overcast with a fast moving front that blew in just after the 10am flag raising ceremony.  But the skies calmed down and we had a nice afternoon. This remains one of the best events of the calendar year and we're already tossing around ideas for 2027!

On Saturday, August 1 the World War 2 Guys attended our third annual Open House event at the Commemorative Air Force's Great Plains Wing hanger and museum. Rather unexpectedly, the typical hot and humid late summer weather took a turn as we were gifted with light breezes and temps in the 60s. It was an incredible morning to be outdoors! Once again our group happily devoured stacks of golden pancakes with sausages, orange juice and coffee served up by the famous Pancake Man. We had two display tables set-up featuring U.S. Navy items from the USS Oriskany and a table of typical USAAF uniforms and equipment. In one month we'll be back in action at the annual Ft. Atkinson Timeline Weekend so come on out and see all of our amazing impressions!

The weekend of May 2-3 saw the World War 2 Guys participate in our first ever "Spring" Timeline Weekend. Working with Superintendent Jason Grof as our coordinator, we were able to do a slightly smaller scale version of our big September Timeline which is a favorite unit event. For this event we had Donnie representing the 507th PIR during its training period in Alliance, Nebraska. Dom was representing the 507th PIR in Normandy wearing the iconic M42 Jump Suit. Eric was representing the U.S. Marine Corps in Korea at the 1951 Battle of the Punchbowl. Rhys was representing the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vietnam. Once again Joe brought out his excellent 5th Special Force Group impression for Vietnam. And to round out our group, Davan was representing the 82nd Airborne in the early 2000's. The weather was fantastic the entire weekend with sunny skies and light breezes. We took part in the 3:00 afternoon whiskey ration on Saturday and were invited to the reenactors' supper in the early evening. We gathered around the big tent at sunset to talk about all things history and the day's events. Sunday saw fewer visitors to the fort but our group still had a fun time hanging out and talking history. We're already excited to get back to the fort in September for the much larger Fall Timeline!

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 Sunday, October 26, the World War 2 Guys helped out at the 2nd Annual "Flight of Fright" event at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. In attendance we had Eric, Matt and Joe stationed at the B-29 Superfortress representing a Pacific Theater B-29 crew. Over at the C-47 Skytrain we had Donnie, Davan and Rhys representing the Jumping Spiders of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment. We had lots of trick or treaters throughout the afternoon event and quite a few history-related conversations with visitors. We always have a great experience at the museum which holds a very special place in our hearts. At a D-Day display event at the museum in June of 2018, Deqlan, Donnie and Davan visited our display as kids and now 7 years later, they are the ones wearing the same uniforms to honor our World War II veterans. It's a great story and I'm glad we are passing along our love and appreciation of our nation's military history to a new generation!

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 Saturday, August 2 the World War 2 Guys attended our second annual Open House event at the Commemorative Air Force's Great Plains Wing hanger and museum. Unlike last year, it was a gorgeous, cool summer morning with low humidity and temperatures in the 70s, so everyone really enjoyed being outdoors. We were served up stacks of golden pancakes with sausages, orange juice and coffee by the famous Pancake Man. Donnie caught an impressive 5 out of 6 pancakes that were flung on his plate. We had several tables set-up as a display focused on the B-29 Superfortress crews of the Pacific Theater in World War II. I designed two boards that outlined the unique responsibilities of each member of a B-29 crew. We also had a new promotional board for the World War 2 Guys to explain a little bit about who we are and what we do. There was a lot of great interaction with the public and as always we had a really fun time spending the morning together as a team. Next month we will be back in action at the Ft. Atkinson Timeline Weekend so come on out and see all of our amazing impressions!

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.