Thursday, December 17, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Hillside Patrol
Our small band of brothers gathered together for our August training event on Saturday, September 26th up at our Little Sioux training site near Mondamin, Iowa. In attendance were Big Dave, Gus, Scott, Jeff, Sean and myself. We spent some time reviewing our hand signals and discussed possibly changing some of them. I got picked to be squad leader for the day so that made things a bit more challenging for me. We worked on patrolling through clearings and up hillsides. Our lead scout, Scott, had some fun with his duties and informed us that he heard some Chinese soldiers hiding up ahead in a grouping of trees... So I went with the flow and from then on we immersed ourselves in a Korean War patrol scenario. We hunted imaginary little red commies up and down those hills. It was so much fun!!! We even fixed bayonets for a planned bayonet change that never happened. The hoards of Red Chinese and North Koreans may not have really been there that day - BUT THE MOSQUITOS SURE WERE!!! We spent far more time swatting at those pesky little bloodsuckers than anything else. We all gained a much deeper appreciation for the life that our Pacific warriors endured on all of those bug-infested island hopping campaigns. We wrapped up our training early because of the bugs and headed to the local watering hole to hold a little admin meeting. Big Dave was feeling generous and bought us all a few rounds. We tossed around ideas for future events, ways to increase our unit's visibility, and talked about doing more tactical events in the coming year. It was a great day and really got me to thinking more about the Korean War and our 2nd I.D. veterans who fought there. I'll end with a photo of a REAL 2nd Division hillside patrol somewhere in Korea... Through all the horrors of that war, I would imagine that quite a few soldiers did admire the spectacular vistas which lay sprawled out before them.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Back To The Basics
The men of the 2nd I.D. Living History Association gathered for our August training event on Saturday, August 22nd out at Ft. Atkinson State Historical Park. The weather was absolutely amazing for mid-August in Nebraska with a cool morning and an afternoon high around 80 degrees. We had sunny skies all day long!!! All of our core members were able to make it out for the day including Dave, Gus, Kevin, Sean, Scott, Jeff and Casey. I had the privilege and honor of being able to lead the training session for this event. For this training day we decided to go back to the basics of being a soldier in World War II. We started the day by going over the school of the soldier without arms. This included having the squad fall in, learning about intervals, the position of attention, saluting, facings and some basic marching. The squad then decided to stop for a water break and a quick lunch of K-Rations. We then moved on to practice the manual of arms for the rifle which included handling the rifle, saluting with the rifle, presenting arms, and the 15 count manual of arms. We did a lot of marching around the Council House on the fort grounds. After we felt pretty comfortable with manual of arms we trained on how to properly pitch our shelter half tents. This is something that our unit has rarely done because we have typically used Dave's GP Medium tent at most of our local events. Our three two man teams were able to successfully set up three shelter halves doing it all by the book. I then did a quick demonstration of a display of equipment for field inspection. Here is a diagram of what that looks like.
We wrapped up the day with a quick administrative meeting and we were heading home before 4:00. A lot of the guys commented that it was our unit's best training event to date. It was sure a lot of fun and we really brushed up on some valuable soldiering skills.
We wrapped up the day with a quick administrative meeting and we were heading home before 4:00. A lot of the guys commented that it was our unit's best training event to date. It was sure a lot of fun and we really brushed up on some valuable soldiering skills.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Independence Day 2009
The men of the 2nd I.D. Living History Association assembled once again for our annual Independence Day parade on Saturday, July 4th in Ralston, Nebraska. Making it out for this year's parade were Sean, Jeff, Cody, Kevin and his son Tyler, Paul and his son Nick, and our favorite ole' Sarge, Will Green, who was back on a visit from Colorado where he is stationed at Shriver Air Force Base. This year we marched as a color guard and were the third entry from the front of the parade. The skies were overcast and there was a little rain spitting off and on, but the crowd seemed to be bigger than ever! On the first block of the parade route I was actually overwhelmed by the sheer number of spectators. After our group finished the parade I walked back down the parade route and met up with Tracy and the kids who were hanging out with the Bruce family. I got to watch quite a bit of the parade which was still rolling on by. It was a great event once again and really made me proud to be doing what I do with this hobby.Some of the photographs used in this post are courtesy of Robert Bruce, a very talented co-worker and friend of mine.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Armed Forces Day Display 2009
I just finished up a great blog post about my 2009 Armed Forced Day exhibit on my USS Oriskany blog. There are tons of great photos and a lot of information about my Vietnam air war collection that has been growing over the past year. You can read all about it by clicking the link on the lower right or just going to the address listed below. Enjoy!!!http://mightyoriskany.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
D-Day at Fort Atkinson
On Saturday, June 6th, our 2nd I.D. reenactment unit spent the day out at historic Fort Atkinson, a short and scenic drive just north of Omaha. Fort Atkinson was the westernmost military fort of the United States during its existence from 1819-1827. Quite a bit of the fort has been reconstructed on its original site and there is an amazing volunteer living history program that puts on monthly reenactments of what life would have been like at the fort. In remembrance of the 65th anniversary of the Allies invasion of Normandy, our group set up a small but impressive display focused on all of the weapons, uniforms and equipment that the G.I.'s would have used on D-Day. We had a great turnout from our membership and all of the guys looked really sharp in our HBT uniforms. The living historians and the state park workers out at Fort Atkinson were really great and the public seemed to really enjoy our display. It was a great day and a fitting celebration to honor all of the D-Day veterans.
Monday, April 13, 2009
A Nebraska 2nd I.D. Veteran
Here is an article from the Omaha World Herald's Monday, April 13th edition. It is a biography from their ongoing "Greatest Generation" series which tells the stories of different World War II participants from around the Midlands. This one caught my eye right away when I read of Mr. Johnson's service in the 2nd Division. Here is the article...
L.L. (Swede) Johnson
Age: 84
Town: Bloomfield, Neb.
Service: U.S. Army
In the war: He was drafted into the Army shortly after graduating from high school and was sworn in at Fort Crook, the predecessor of Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue. He was sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and then Camp Walters in Texas, where he spent 16 weeks training. After a few more stops, he left New York City on the Queen Mary, heading for Scotland. He later arrived at South Hampton, England. He was assigned as a replacement to the Second Infantry Division, First Army. He was sent by landing craft to Omaha Beach. During the drive through France, he was injured by an artillery shell, which caused the loss of his right leg above the knee. For his combat wounds he received a Purple Heart; he earned many other medals during his time in France. Sixty years later, he received a letter from the French government thanking him for defending that country.
In his words: Before we left South Hampton, the Germans sent buzz bombers to this harbor and destroyed many buildings. This was very scary, but it did not hit where we were. At about the middle of the English Channel, we were then loaded on landing craft and were taken to Normandy, Omaha Beach. By the time we got there, which was several days, our troops were a few miles inland. It was tough going as they could not get through the hedgerows until such time someone put knives on the front of the big Sherman tanks. They then could bust through those hedgerows of trees, rock and dirt. I believe all units moved much faster then until they got to Saint Lo, France. The Air Force was called in to bomb Saint Lo on July 26, 1944. They almost leveled Saint Lo. The Second Division was on one flank there. From this point I remember that we moved into Vire, France. This was a small manufacturing town, and the Germans wanted to keep it as they pushed our forces out of it two or three times. Outside of Vire we were pushing forward when an artillery shell burst above me, striking my right leg, which in time caused the loss of the right leg above the knee. This happened in the forenoon and medics did not get to me until 11 p.m. We were in the hills and vehicles could not get to us. Other fellows were wounded, too, so they carried us out to Jeeps. We stopped at Company Aid and from there to Battalion Aid. From there to the shores of France, to U.S. 28th Evacuation Hospital (a big tent with many wounded soldiers). The time spent at these places is unknown by me because I had lots of pain pills. I was put on an airplane as well as other wounded soldiers and was flown to 101st General Hospital in England. I had several operations in this hospital. The doctors there tried to save as much of my leg as they could, but it did not work. In November 1944, I and many of the wounded soldiers were put on the Queen Elizabeth ship and taken back to the USA. We landed on Staten Island, N.Y. When we arrived, the Red Cross came on the ship with ice cream and milk, which was a real treat. I am proud to have served my country of USA, and if I had to I would do it again.
This article is by DeDra Robb
L.L. (Swede) Johnson
Age: 84
Town: Bloomfield, Neb.
Service: U.S. Army
In the war: He was drafted into the Army shortly after graduating from high school and was sworn in at Fort Crook, the predecessor of Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue. He was sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and then Camp Walters in Texas, where he spent 16 weeks training. After a few more stops, he left New York City on the Queen Mary, heading for Scotland. He later arrived at South Hampton, England. He was assigned as a replacement to the Second Infantry Division, First Army. He was sent by landing craft to Omaha Beach. During the drive through France, he was injured by an artillery shell, which caused the loss of his right leg above the knee. For his combat wounds he received a Purple Heart; he earned many other medals during his time in France. Sixty years later, he received a letter from the French government thanking him for defending that country.
In his words: Before we left South Hampton, the Germans sent buzz bombers to this harbor and destroyed many buildings. This was very scary, but it did not hit where we were. At about the middle of the English Channel, we were then loaded on landing craft and were taken to Normandy, Omaha Beach. By the time we got there, which was several days, our troops were a few miles inland. It was tough going as they could not get through the hedgerows until such time someone put knives on the front of the big Sherman tanks. They then could bust through those hedgerows of trees, rock and dirt. I believe all units moved much faster then until they got to Saint Lo, France. The Air Force was called in to bomb Saint Lo on July 26, 1944. They almost leveled Saint Lo. The Second Division was on one flank there. From this point I remember that we moved into Vire, France. This was a small manufacturing town, and the Germans wanted to keep it as they pushed our forces out of it two or three times. Outside of Vire we were pushing forward when an artillery shell burst above me, striking my right leg, which in time caused the loss of the right leg above the knee. This happened in the forenoon and medics did not get to me until 11 p.m. We were in the hills and vehicles could not get to us. Other fellows were wounded, too, so they carried us out to Jeeps. We stopped at Company Aid and from there to Battalion Aid. From there to the shores of France, to U.S. 28th Evacuation Hospital (a big tent with many wounded soldiers). The time spent at these places is unknown by me because I had lots of pain pills. I was put on an airplane as well as other wounded soldiers and was flown to 101st General Hospital in England. I had several operations in this hospital. The doctors there tried to save as much of my leg as they could, but it did not work. In November 1944, I and many of the wounded soldiers were put on the Queen Elizabeth ship and taken back to the USA. We landed on Staten Island, N.Y. When we arrived, the Red Cross came on the ship with ice cream and milk, which was a real treat. I am proud to have served my country of USA, and if I had to I would do it again.
This article is by DeDra Robb
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Battle of the Bulge at Camp Clark, Missouri
Kirk Gustafson, Casey Sill, Sean Cheek and I headed down to Camp Clark near Nevada, Missouri on Friday, January 16th. We set up our bunks in a new National Guard barracks building once we checked-in. We spent Friday night playing poker with French francs at the USO club that our host unit, the 137th Infantry, had set up. It was a pretty fun time playing poker and listening to some great 40s music. The first photo is of Gus pointing out some possible tactics using coins to represent squad members on Friday night.
This photo was taken of our small group on Saturday morning just before we fell-in with the rest of the troops. There were about 35 Germans at this event and an estimated 95 Allied troops including some Brits, some Russians, the 2nd Division, 29th Division, 35th Division, 84th Division, 4th Armored, 101st Airborne, 1st Special Service Forces, and some Rangers. One really cool twist that we threw into this event was that our small unit of four operated as German soldiers dressed as G.I.'s. We lured a total of 9 other G.I.'s into our little trap and also captured a Weapons Carrier from the 84th Division. It was priceless to see the reactions on the American soldiers' faces when we told them to drop their weapons and come with us.
The next two photos are of us moving out in the morning. We marched up to the first battle site with the 35th and 4th Armored guys. There were some icy patches here and there, but the weather was great and the sun was brilliant!
The next two photos were taken while we stopped to eat some K-Rations. When you're out working your way through some tough terrain to reach your objectives, there's nothing better than some canned meat and crackers to keep you going!
The next two photos are from the end of the day after all of our battle scenarios had ended. I really like the photo of Sean and Gus that I took on our ride back to the barracks. We were lucky to hitch a ride back on a halftrack. The ride was exhilarating!
And finally, a photo I took just after sunset on Saturday night. It was really beautiful out there that night and I spent quite a while just taking in the wonderful colors that God painted before me. The whole event was top notch and I really hope to return again next year! Our hosts served up and excellent Sauerbraten and noodles dinner and we spent an hour or so playing poker again. The 137th guys put on an excellent demonstration to a local Boy Scout troop on the different uniforms, equipment and arms of several nations' armies during World War II. I actually learned quite a bit from the presentation. We headed home early Sunday morning and were back in Omaha by 12:30 in the afternoon. It was a great weekend and one that I will always treasure among my reenactment memories.
This photo was taken of our small group on Saturday morning just before we fell-in with the rest of the troops. There were about 35 Germans at this event and an estimated 95 Allied troops including some Brits, some Russians, the 2nd Division, 29th Division, 35th Division, 84th Division, 4th Armored, 101st Airborne, 1st Special Service Forces, and some Rangers. One really cool twist that we threw into this event was that our small unit of four operated as German soldiers dressed as G.I.'s. We lured a total of 9 other G.I.'s into our little trap and also captured a Weapons Carrier from the 84th Division. It was priceless to see the reactions on the American soldiers' faces when we told them to drop their weapons and come with us.
The next two photos are of us moving out in the morning. We marched up to the first battle site with the 35th and 4th Armored guys. There were some icy patches here and there, but the weather was great and the sun was brilliant!
The next two photos were taken while we stopped to eat some K-Rations. When you're out working your way through some tough terrain to reach your objectives, there's nothing better than some canned meat and crackers to keep you going!
The next two photos are from the end of the day after all of our battle scenarios had ended. I really like the photo of Sean and Gus that I took on our ride back to the barracks. We were lucky to hitch a ride back on a halftrack. The ride was exhilarating!
And finally, a photo I took just after sunset on Saturday night. It was really beautiful out there that night and I spent quite a while just taking in the wonderful colors that God painted before me. The whole event was top notch and I really hope to return again next year! Our hosts served up and excellent Sauerbraten and noodles dinner and we spent an hour or so playing poker again. The 137th guys put on an excellent demonstration to a local Boy Scout troop on the different uniforms, equipment and arms of several nations' armies during World War II. I actually learned quite a bit from the presentation. We headed home early Sunday morning and were back in Omaha by 12:30 in the afternoon. It was a great weekend and one that I will always treasure among my reenactment memories.
2nd I.D. Unit Christmas Party
The boys from the 2nd got together on Saturday, December 6th for our annual unit Christmas party. Scott and Erica Rowe opened up their beautiful home to us for the night to enjoy some good food and drinks and great company. We even toasted in the new year with our unit's traditional round of Calvados, a rather potent apple brandy from the Normandy area of France. We held our unit elections for 2009 and welcomed in David Jameson as our new President, Kirk Gustafson as our new VP, Scott Rowe as our Treasurer, Casey Sill as our new unit Clerk, and Jeff McCue as our Quartermaster. Congrats guys!!!! I look forward to 2009 and a great year with our merry band of brothers!!!
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