Unit History for the 2nd Marines E/2/2 Reenacted
By Gy/Sgt. Zak
The idea of forming a Marine unit began with the June, 2008 amphibious assault that took place on the beach at Tiscornia Park in Benton Harbor, Michigan. There were two beach landings scheduled: The first, representing the European Theater, was to be a D-Day recreation of the June 6, 1944 landings at Normandy and the other was to represent the Pacific Theatre and the assault on Peleliu. A group of us who normally do the WWII U.S. Army impression decided to also do a WWII Marine impression for the Peleliu assault. Thus the seeds were planted in the sands of that beach at Tiscornia Park for a Marine unit. On November 10, 2008 (the Marines Corps birthday) the application for a unit charter was submitted to the WWII HRS (Historical Reenactment Society) and in January 2009 our unit charter was approved.
The unit that we decided to represent, was Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Regiment of the 2nd Marine Division (E/2/2). The 2nd Marine Division was selected due to the fact that unit member Jon Stevens’ father served with the 2nd along with my uncle. Early members in this newly formed unit included: Richard “Zak” Sobczak, Craig Dvorak, Jon Stevens, Paul Diamond, Bill Bacon, Dan Maloney and Wayne McCulley. From that small group, the seeds took root and by the time of the June, 2009 amphibious assault, we had our own WWII Amtrac assigned to our unit and filled it with fourteen Marines of E/2/2.
Today, our membership numbers about two dozen men from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. We are active in various events, always with the goal of keeping alive the memory, action and deeds of the 2nd Marine Division of WWII. The following is a brief sample of some of these types of events: WWII Marine training, living history displays, school presentations, parades, battle reenactments and amphibious assaults.
By Gy/Sgt. Zak
The idea of forming a Marine unit began with the June, 2008 amphibious assault that took place on the beach at Tiscornia Park in Benton Harbor, Michigan. There were two beach landings scheduled: The first, representing the European Theater, was to be a D-Day recreation of the June 6, 1944 landings at Normandy and the other was to represent the Pacific Theatre and the assault on Peleliu. A group of us who normally do the WWII U.S. Army impression decided to also do a WWII Marine impression for the Peleliu assault. Thus the seeds were planted in the sands of that beach at Tiscornia Park for a Marine unit. On November 10, 2008 (the Marines Corps birthday) the application for a unit charter was submitted to the WWII HRS (Historical Reenactment Society) and in January 2009 our unit charter was approved.
The unit that we decided to represent, was Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Regiment of the 2nd Marine Division (E/2/2). The 2nd Marine Division was selected due to the fact that unit member Jon Stevens’ father served with the 2nd along with my uncle. Early members in this newly formed unit included: Richard “Zak” Sobczak, Craig Dvorak, Jon Stevens, Paul Diamond, Bill Bacon, Dan Maloney and Wayne McCulley. From that small group, the seeds took root and by the time of the June, 2009 amphibious assault, we had our own WWII Amtrac assigned to our unit and filled it with fourteen Marines of E/2/2.
Today, our membership numbers about two dozen men from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. We are active in various events, always with the goal of keeping alive the memory, action and deeds of the 2nd Marine Division of WWII. The following is a brief sample of some of these types of events: WWII Marine training, living history displays, school presentations, parades, battle reenactments and amphibious assaults.