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.
