A full de-brief of the B/502nd Annual Meeting will be out in a few days but here is a run down of the events the platoon elected to attend in 2015.
26 FEB - 1 MAR - Operation Nordwind
(Ft. Indiantown Gap, Annville, PA)
6 JUN - Knox County Airport D-Day Weekend
(Mt. Vernon, OH)
17-19 JUL - Ride Through History
(Alliance, OH)
21-23 AUG - D-Day Conneaut
(Conneaut, OH)
12 SEP - Kent Aviation Heritage Fair
(Stow/Kent, OH)
9-12 OCT - Camp Tuscazoar WWII Tactical
(Dover, OH) DATE TO BE CONFIRMED
DEC - Wreaths for Western Reserve Cemetery
(Rittman, OH) DATE TO BE CONFIRMED
Members of the unit also elected to attend the following as "support" events.
17 MAY - Armed Forces Day Military Show
(Findlay, OH)
1 AUG - Bridge at Remagen Reenactment
(Tidioute, PA)
19-20 SEP - Eisenhower Farm Living History
(Gettysburg, PA)
November 23, 2014
After Action Report: 2014 Camp Tuscazoar WWII Tactical
Camp Tuscazoar - Dover, OH
10-12 OCT, 2014
www.facebook.com/tuscazoar
It was sunny when we arrived at the event this year. It was a slight Indian summer with mild days and chilly nights, perfect German killing weather. The platoon was billeted in the same house as years past, with the downstairs open to us this time. I, along with the rest of the command was on the lower floor with second squad. First being the larger of the two was on the other floor. The officer and NCO brief was at 2100, and we briefed the men immediately after. The plan was simple, kill Germans. The objective was the town of Zoarhoven, nestled in the scenic hills south of the larger town of Zoar. We would march to a pre determined point and fight our way back to the town.
We were rousted from our slumbers at 0600 and headed to the mess hall for morning chow, morning formation being at 0800 we had some time for camaraderie and coffee. Once the food was nestled in our gullets we all made our way back to the barracks to get ready for the days festivities. I formed the platoon up on the road leading into the town. We marched to the marshaling area and stood by to stand by. Timing wise we were to depart the marshaling area at 0900. We found that we were all ready and assembled at 0830 so decided to step off at 0845. The plan was to exit the camp and take the hardball road to another marshaling area one mile away and begin the scenario. The area we chose to have the event is not only surrounded by hills, but is made up of hills…a lot of hills. The hills have hills. So, the first half-mile of our journey was befitting because it was up a large hill. I led the way and wanted to get to the top as soon as possible, much to the dismay of my men who I could hear grumbling some ways back. Once at the top of the hill we regrouped and began our tactical column down the road. It was quite the scene to behold and we startled the locals and a few cows as we marched. The bridge was still covered in dew when we crossed it about half an hour after setting off. The red bridge was to be our first objective and we would have to take it from those schnitzel-eating bastards in short time. Judging by the Germans we had passed on the way down, I knew taking the bridge would be like taking brats from a young frau.
The towpath took us about 100 yards beyond the bridge, around a bend and opened into a field. The company formed a perimeter and we waited for the scenario to begin. At 1000 we began. First squad entered into the brush along the east side of the towpath and second went up the middle with cover from the other platoon on the west and our machinegun team. Smoke was thrown and the Germans put up a good fight but they weren’t any match for the men of Baker. We rushed over the bridge taking very few casualties and secured the far side. We immediately began a tactical sweep of the area to look for hiding krauts and police up our men. The terrain dictated all of our movements and we could only follow the single-track road that traced the shoreline of the river we had just crossed. We took the path slowly, always looking for any movement in the shrubbery. It wasn’t long before we became engaged again by a small contingent of Germans. A little firefight ensued and the Germans retreated farther back in the woods. We hadn’t made it another two hundred yards when we were attacked by a larger contingent of Germans. This firefight became a bit more involved and part of our company moved to the higher ground in order to envelop them and crush them. This would be the last time we would see them for some time. Our first squad moved up and tried to flank but could not move up the steep terrain to flank. We got back out on the road and were ordered to move to another road cut 100 yards south. We did and it was then that we realized we had lost comm with the rest of the company. We knew the general plan and decided to push towards the culvert objective. The second squad was on the lower tier near the river with the vehicles, the other squad in our company too the higher ground which left us in the middle. We pushed down the road looking in all directions for contact. We heard our second squad become engaged and ran towards the firing. When we arrived onsite we could not find our men but were instead ambushed by a group of Germans. They got the drop on all of us and we were all done for. We took off our helmets and began to walk in the direction from which we came. We noticed the Allied command group on the lower road and slid down the hill to join them. After, a short discussion we turned to find the rest of Baker. We found them about fifty yards down the road climbing up the same hill that we had slid down five minutes before. Once we all climbed back up the hill we sat down and took a rest. The rest was short and we were ordered to go back up yet another hill and stand by.
We all got into position and realized that we were behind the chow hall and preparing to attack the town. We moved into the attack and pushed the Germans back through the town and out the south end. The attack could not have gone off better and seeing that it was not coordinated in any way, went off without a hitch. Everyone was good on ammo and once the town was seized we put out a security perimeter and waited for the counter attack. It came about 20 minutes later and they pushed us from the town with a very good effort employing machine guns and enfilading fields of fire. Our platoon fell back to where we had initiated the initial attack and were ordered to make another counter attack, which we did in fine form and fashion. We ran back behind the Germans and pushed up en masse towards the village. We startled a few Germans and cut them down. Our while command element was taken out and the attack didn’t have the momentum to take the town again. The Germans held the town of Zoarhoven, despite our best efforts.
Submitted,
Chris Bauer
SSgt/B Co. 502nd PIR
10-12 OCT, 2014
www.facebook.com/tuscazoar
It was sunny when we arrived at the event this year. It was a slight Indian summer with mild days and chilly nights, perfect German killing weather. The platoon was billeted in the same house as years past, with the downstairs open to us this time. I, along with the rest of the command was on the lower floor with second squad. First being the larger of the two was on the other floor. The officer and NCO brief was at 2100, and we briefed the men immediately after. The plan was simple, kill Germans. The objective was the town of Zoarhoven, nestled in the scenic hills south of the larger town of Zoar. We would march to a pre determined point and fight our way back to the town.
We were rousted from our slumbers at 0600 and headed to the mess hall for morning chow, morning formation being at 0800 we had some time for camaraderie and coffee. Once the food was nestled in our gullets we all made our way back to the barracks to get ready for the days festivities. I formed the platoon up on the road leading into the town. We marched to the marshaling area and stood by to stand by. Timing wise we were to depart the marshaling area at 0900. We found that we were all ready and assembled at 0830 so decided to step off at 0845. The plan was to exit the camp and take the hardball road to another marshaling area one mile away and begin the scenario. The area we chose to have the event is not only surrounded by hills, but is made up of hills…a lot of hills. The hills have hills. So, the first half-mile of our journey was befitting because it was up a large hill. I led the way and wanted to get to the top as soon as possible, much to the dismay of my men who I could hear grumbling some ways back. Once at the top of the hill we regrouped and began our tactical column down the road. It was quite the scene to behold and we startled the locals and a few cows as we marched. The bridge was still covered in dew when we crossed it about half an hour after setting off. The red bridge was to be our first objective and we would have to take it from those schnitzel-eating bastards in short time. Judging by the Germans we had passed on the way down, I knew taking the bridge would be like taking brats from a young frau.
The towpath took us about 100 yards beyond the bridge, around a bend and opened into a field. The company formed a perimeter and we waited for the scenario to begin. At 1000 we began. First squad entered into the brush along the east side of the towpath and second went up the middle with cover from the other platoon on the west and our machinegun team. Smoke was thrown and the Germans put up a good fight but they weren’t any match for the men of Baker. We rushed over the bridge taking very few casualties and secured the far side. We immediately began a tactical sweep of the area to look for hiding krauts and police up our men. The terrain dictated all of our movements and we could only follow the single-track road that traced the shoreline of the river we had just crossed. We took the path slowly, always looking for any movement in the shrubbery. It wasn’t long before we became engaged again by a small contingent of Germans. A little firefight ensued and the Germans retreated farther back in the woods. We hadn’t made it another two hundred yards when we were attacked by a larger contingent of Germans. This firefight became a bit more involved and part of our company moved to the higher ground in order to envelop them and crush them. This would be the last time we would see them for some time. Our first squad moved up and tried to flank but could not move up the steep terrain to flank. We got back out on the road and were ordered to move to another road cut 100 yards south. We did and it was then that we realized we had lost comm with the rest of the company. We knew the general plan and decided to push towards the culvert objective. The second squad was on the lower tier near the river with the vehicles, the other squad in our company too the higher ground which left us in the middle. We pushed down the road looking in all directions for contact. We heard our second squad become engaged and ran towards the firing. When we arrived onsite we could not find our men but were instead ambushed by a group of Germans. They got the drop on all of us and we were all done for. We took off our helmets and began to walk in the direction from which we came. We noticed the Allied command group on the lower road and slid down the hill to join them. After, a short discussion we turned to find the rest of Baker. We found them about fifty yards down the road climbing up the same hill that we had slid down five minutes before. Once we all climbed back up the hill we sat down and took a rest. The rest was short and we were ordered to go back up yet another hill and stand by.
We all got into position and realized that we were behind the chow hall and preparing to attack the town. We moved into the attack and pushed the Germans back through the town and out the south end. The attack could not have gone off better and seeing that it was not coordinated in any way, went off without a hitch. Everyone was good on ammo and once the town was seized we put out a security perimeter and waited for the counter attack. It came about 20 minutes later and they pushed us from the town with a very good effort employing machine guns and enfilading fields of fire. Our platoon fell back to where we had initiated the initial attack and were ordered to make another counter attack, which we did in fine form and fashion. We ran back behind the Germans and pushed up en masse towards the village. We startled a few Germans and cut them down. Our while command element was taken out and the attack didn’t have the momentum to take the town again. The Germans held the town of Zoarhoven, despite our best efforts.
Submitted,
Chris Bauer
SSgt/B Co. 502nd PIR
November 10, 2014
2015 WWII reenactments and events
A full de-brief of the B/502nd Annual Meeting will be out in a few days but here is a run down of the events the platoon elected to attend in 2015.
6-8 MAR - Spring Tactics and Weapons Training
(Camp Workman, Ravenna, OH)
26-29 MAR - Operation Nordwind
(Ft. Indiantown Gap, Annville, PA)
6 JUN - Knox County Airport D-Day Weekend
(Mt. Vernon, OH)
17-19 JUL - Ride Through History
(Alliance, OH)
21-23 AUG - D-Day Conneaut
(Conneaut, OH)
12 SEP - Kent Aviation Heritage Fair
(Stow/Kent, OH)
9-12 OCT - Camp Tuscazoar WWII Tactical
(Dover, OH) DATE TO BE CONFIRMED
DEC - Wreaths for Western Reserve Cemetery
(Rittman, OH) DATE TO BE CONFIRMED
Members of the unit also elected to attend the following as "support" events.
17 MAY - Armed Forces Day Military Show
(Findlay, OH)
1 AUG - Bridge at Remagen Reenactment
(Tidioute, PA)
SEP - Eisenhower Farm Living History
(Gettysburg, PA) DATE TO BE CONFIRMED
6-8 MAR - Spring Tactics and Weapons Training
(Camp Workman, Ravenna, OH)
26-29 MAR - Operation Nordwind
(Ft. Indiantown Gap, Annville, PA)
6 JUN - Knox County Airport D-Day Weekend
(Mt. Vernon, OH)
17-19 JUL - Ride Through History
(Alliance, OH)
21-23 AUG - D-Day Conneaut
(Conneaut, OH)
12 SEP - Kent Aviation Heritage Fair
(Stow/Kent, OH)
9-12 OCT - Camp Tuscazoar WWII Tactical
(Dover, OH) DATE TO BE CONFIRMED
DEC - Wreaths for Western Reserve Cemetery
(Rittman, OH) DATE TO BE CONFIRMED
Members of the unit also elected to attend the following as "support" events.
17 MAY - Armed Forces Day Military Show
(Findlay, OH)
1 AUG - Bridge at Remagen Reenactment
(Tidioute, PA)
SEP - Eisenhower Farm Living History
(Gettysburg, PA) DATE TO BE CONFIRMED
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