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!

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.

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!

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 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 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, July 20, the World War 2 Guys jumped forward in time to the year 1967. Our objective for the day was to loosely live a "day in the life" of the 1986 Oliver Stone movie, Platoon. Our squad for the day was comprised of SSgt. Barnes, Sgt. Elias, Taylor, Bunny, Rhah, Lerner, and Crawford. Our guys had been preparing for this for a few months, but it was the first Vietnam event for all of us so there were several little details that we can improve upon for future events. For our location, we chose our favorite site in the beautiful Loess Hills of western Iowa. We spent quite a bit of time clearing out and improving our hilltop outpost which we called Firebase Lightning. After a lunch of C Rations, we did a lengthy Search & Destroy patrol in the afternoon and just had a great time hanging out as a group. After our time in the hills, all seven of us ventured to the Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Memorial where we took some really great group photos which we'll post later. It was such a fun day that we're already planning on doing a follow-up event next year.

After we finished up with the 80th Anniversary of D-Day, several of the World War 2 Guys raced over to the dedication ceremony for the new Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This was an event over two years in the making and well worth the wait. The ceremony was hosted by Rob McCartney of KETV and 11 different speakers shared their comments including Nebraska Governor, Jim Pillen and former U.S. Defense Secretary, Chuck Hagel. After the formal ceremony, everyone made their way up to the memorial on the top of the hill west of Sumtur Amphitheater. What a sight to behold!  The new memorial is breathtaking and extremely impressive! The main attraction is an authentic Bell UH-1 "Huey" Helicopter that served in the Vietnam War complete with a life-like bronze crew sculpted by a talented local artist, Troy Muller.  On the ground below the helicopter is a statue grouping of two soldiers carrying their wounded buddy to the safety of the incoming chopper. Joe and Eric served as military consultants for this project and are two of the models used to create this exceptional piece of artwork. But the highlight of the day was spending time talking with several Vietnam veterans and a few spouses as well. It was so special to connect with some of these men and hear a few of their stories and experiences during the war. June 6 was a once in a lifetime day for our group and we were so happy to be a part of it.

The weekend of September 2-3 was the much anticipated 9th Annual Timeline Weekend at Ft. Atkinson State Historical Park. After enjoying a few weeks of pleasant late August weather, we were finally hit with some more extreme temps throughout the weekend which might have impacted crowd attendance. Joe was once again sporting his top notch 5th Special Forces Group impression and hooch display. Steve Cox was representing the U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War once again with his extensive display layout. Jeff was out on Saturday in a World War II infantryman kit. And Eric represented the U.S. Navy pilots of Task Force 77 in the Korean War. We all enjoyed a great picnic dinner for the participating reenactors on Saturday night, which was followed by a fun night of hanging out until after sunset. Sunday warmed-up quickly and visitors to the park were sadly pretty sparse. We headed out a bit earlier than expected, but it was great to be back at the fort and rekindle a lot of great friendships with fellow living historians.